Little Shots of Heaven
by shadows and silhouettes
Summary: A series of hopefully 50 Malec one-shots. Simple as that.
1. Blue

**The beginning of a series of one or two-shot fics centered around Magnus and Alec. I have a chart set up for 100 of these little suckers, but we'll see how far I get before I give up. No chapters are related to one another unless stated at the beginning of the chapter. Thank you and enjoy :3**

**Permanent Disclaimer (meaning it's only on this one and none of the others): These wonderful boys and anyone else I pull in that you recognize belong to Cassandra Clare.**

**Blue**

There are a lot of different blues. There are the blues in the sky and in the ocean. There are the blues of different types of flowers. And there are the blues that are almost green. But, no blue would ever-could ever match up to the blue that was Alec's eyes. Magnus had been around for centuries; he knew that this was a rock solid fact. Or maybe he was a little biased. Okay, a lot biased. But,_ damn…_

"You're staring again."

Magnus was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of the voice belonging to the very person who had yet again captured them, bringing him back to the world where he was laying with Alec on the couch. "Sorry, darling," he said. "Maybe if you weren't so gorgeous, I wouldn't stare at you all the time."

Alec's face turned from its normally pale shade to a sort of reddish pink. "I'm not…" he started to protest, but it died on his lips. No matter how many times he said it, Magnus just never got it through his head, so why bother anymore.

Magnus gave the Nephilim a small smile. "Accept the facts. You are attractive, Alexander Lightwood. You and your spectacular eyes."

Alec let out a swiftly chuckle. "Sometimes, Magnus, I feel like the only reason you love me is because I have nice eyes. Or so you say they are anyway. I don't think they're anything special."

"I do love you for your eyes, love," Magnus said, noticing that Alec's brow scrunched up before he finished what he was saying. "But, they are only one of the hundreds of reasons why I love you."

Alec almost smiled, but he was more embarrassed and so hid his face into Magnus's shoulder, no longer looking up at the warlock's face as he leaned against him. "There can't be _hundreds_ of reasons," he muttered into the shoulder, which muffled his voice so much that Magnus almost didn't hear.

"Sure there can. And there are."

He reached up and began to run his fingers through Alec's hair. They stayed just like for a long while and Magnus was almost positive that Alec had fallen asleep. He shifted them both into a new position, getting ready to carry Alec into the bedroom rather than wake him up. Standing up, Magnus stood in place for a moment, relishing in the return of feeling to his legs from sitting so long then he start the careful trek to his bed, Alec never once stirring.

Reaching the room, Magnus gently laid him down on the bed, vaguely wondering if he should tell Isabelle to not expect her brother home soon. Probably. He'd text her once Alec was settled.

Magnus moved so that he could put the cover over Alec, when the much younger boy made one of those sounds people make when they're waking up and just a sliver of one gorgeous blue eye opened up. It caused Magnus to smile for a second before he said softly, "Go back to sleep."

"But—"

"Sleep, Alexander. I'll tell Isabelle you're here so no one will worry."

This, seeming to appease the Lightwood, caused Alec to close his eyes completely again and in moments his breathing evened out again to that of sleep and Magnus knew he was off to dreamland again. Silently, he pulled the blanket over Alec before, not yet ready to sleep himself, heading back to the living room.

Not even an hour later, Magnus was passed out asleep on the couch with Chairman Meow curled in the nook of his left elbow, television still playing whatever it is that he had been watching. He had also forgotten to text Isabelle.

Usually, Alec woke up first when he was over at Magnus's, and today was no exception to that sort of rule. Almost exactly eight hours after he'd fallen asleep, he was beginning to wake up. Upon cracking open his eyes ever so slightly, he was momentarily disoriented as to what his location was, but it all made sense a moment later when his brain finally caught up and reminded him he's fallen asleep in Magnus's arms and so was probably at Magnus's. Alec stretched his arms over his head for a moment, a second question coming to mind. Where was the warlock?

Sitting up and giving himself worse bed-head than he already had, Alec decided to search. It was unusually for him to wake up by himself if he stayed over. Vaguely, he remembered waking up for a moment the night before, but anything said or done then was all a weird mumbled mess in his mind.

Getting up, Alec started to wonder around the flat in search of his boyfriend. It didn't take much time at all, and soon he found that Magnus was just sleeping on the couch. He didn't look very comfortable, sprawled out on the thing. Alec chuckled for a second before padding over the floor to wake Magnus up.

"Magnus," he said not too loudly, but not in a whisper either as he shook Magnus's shoulder. "Wake up."

The warlock on the couch muttered something Alec didn't catch before attempted to roll over and successfully rolling off the couch. Alec laughed; Magnus swore loudly. Afterwards though, Alec felt bad about laughing and crouched down to make sure Magnus was okay. "Magnus…?"

Magnus rolled over to his back, having halfway landed on his side when he felt and was now looking directly up at Alec's face. "Good morning, darling," he said, a smile crossing his face.

"Are you okay?" Alec asked.

The warlock nodded, sitting up from where he was laying, nearly head butting Alec in the process. "I'm perfectly alright."

And, he was.

And, he would always be.

As long as he had Alec's gorgeous blue eyes to wake up to- as long as he had _Alec_ to wake up to- no matter if he rolled off the couch or not, Magnus would always be alright.

Even if he _was _pretty sure he was about to die for forgetting to let Alec's family know where Alec was.

**For being written when I was half asleep, I think it's alright. Unbeta'd and all that mess. Seeing as I don't have a beta...If anyone wants to do that let me know or something :3 Until next time~**


	2. Glitter

**Alright, here's story number two. Completely unrelated to the first chapter, as I think I stated in that one. I honestly hoped to have this done a few days ago, but the writing muse didn't hit until now. I hope you enjoy.**

**Glitter**

Alec Lightwood had never seen so much glitter in his life, and he dated probably the glitteriest person in existence. Magnus looked like he'd just died and gone to heaven. The image splayed out before the both of them wasn't much. In fact, it was simply just a store that sold art equipment. And, apparently they had a whole section dedicated to selling glittery anything. There was glitter paint, pens, markers….all the way straight to just glitter in little jars. The curious thing was: why were Alec and Magnus even in an art store?

It was a simple answer really, simpler than most. They were there against their wills. Clary had been in a weird, very artsy mood lately and she was doing something that required everyone's utmost levels of participation. And, many, many trips to the art store to find just the perfect colors for each of them. Why whatever she was doing couldn't just be in black and white was beyond everyone and they just sort of went along with it, rather than upset her, which in turn would probably upset Jace and everyone just wanted to avoid that.

So, there Alec and Magnus were. Although, at some point they'd abandoned the group and gone exploring, leading them to where they were now. Feeling rather fearful for his well-being, Alec tried to pull Magnus away from the section to a tamer, more Alec-friendly one. But, the warlock was having none of that, walking forward and peering around at everything on the shelves.

Then, he picked up one of the bottles of straight glitter and turned to his boyfriend, who eyed in warily as if it might explode at any second and cover him in the shimmering substance in contain. And, well, that's _almost _what happened. What really happened was that Magnus took the cap off- totally disregarding that they were in a store and that this wasn't glitter that he'd randomly summoned to the flat- and flung the glitter in Alec's direction.

The Shadowhunter gave a very loud, undignified squeak as he tried to jump out of the way in time to avoid getting any on him. If only he were that lucky. Looking down, Alec saw that the entire front of his sweater was now shining in the fluorescent lights of the store.

"Magnus Bane!" he nearly shouted much to Magnus's amusement.

"Yes, Alec?" Magnus asked trying to put on an air of complete innocence, which no one in their right mind would ever buy. Not coming from Magnus at least.

Alec sure as hell wasn't buying it. "_Run_."

Magnus didn't need to be told twice really. Nor did he really have to run. He was a warlock for crying out loud. Not even a second after Alec had spoken, Magnus had vanished from sight. That put a slight damper on Alec's revenge, but he wasn't deterred in the slightest.

Leaving the glittery section of the store, he headed back towards where the others were probably still mingling around. When he got there, they were all very amused at the state of his shirt. Alec wasn't happy about that.

Magnus, on the other hand, was still very, very amused from behind the glamour he'd thrown up instead of running off. Just a little something he'd picked up to block anyone from being able to see him. Even angry Shadowhunter boyfriends. Trailing behind Alec, it was all he could do not to laugh.

The group seemed to be getting ready to leave the store, so Magnus figured his little disappearing act wouldn't stand to last much longer. Besides, what could Alec possibly do as revenge that would really bother him in any way?

So, as they all started to walk off, he snuck up behind Alec who was in the back of the group, walking slower than the rest of them. Chuckling to himself quietly, Magnus wrapped his arms around Alec from behind, dropping his glamour spell as he did so. Alec startled almost violently, before twisting to see that it was just Magnus. He did not look amused at all. Magnus just offered him a smile.

"You are so paying for this when we get back home," Alec threatened, trying to remove himself from Magnus's arms.

"And just what do you plan to do, love?" Magnus challenged.

"I'm not telling _you_. It would give you time to build up a defense against it."

Magnus rolled his eyes. He wouldn't need time to prepare against something. Quite possibly, if Alec didn't have help from his siblings, he could just snap his fingers and have it fixed. But, if getting proper revenge is what made Alec happy… Well, throwing the glitter on him had been oh so worth it. And, it was definitely going to happen again in the future. Alec's reaction had been absolutely priceless and the warlock had really never seen him so flustered in an angry way before. Well, at least not aimed in his direction. Maybe next time he'd get it on more than Alec's sweater. The image of Alec's face, expertly shimmering appeared in Magnus's mind, making him smile to himself for a moment. Perhaps someday…

The group left the store with anything they'd purchased and the majority of them headed back to the Institute, leaving Alec and Magnus alone. The two walked in silence, which wasn't odd. And, the silence gave Alec time to plan what he was going to do in return for getting glitter thrown on him. As they walked, a very subtle smirked appeared on his face. This was going to be fun.

**And that's that. Alright, I'm going to start doing this now and give you all a preview of what to expect in the next update. **

**The next one is titled Consequences and it will be Alec getting his revenge on Magnus:**

**Vaguely, Alec wondered if this revenge would really be worth it in the end, and he decided that it definitely would be. And, he couldn't wait to see the look on Magnus's face when he got home.**


	3. Consequences

**Alright, so this one is directly related to the previous one. That's all you really need to know. Please, do enjoy Alec's revenge.**

**Consequences**

It had taken a few days to get the conditions just right for his revenge, but Alec was a patient boy. Plus, it served to possibly give Magnus a false sense of security about the whole thing. Alec actually kind of hoped that Magnus would think he wasn't really going to do anything in return for the glitter that still clung to his favorite sweater, even after several cycles through the washing machine. Unfortunately for Alec, Magnus had been around for a number of centuries and probably didn't think that at all.

Leaning back on the couch, he watched as Magnus hurried out the door, somewhat amused at the sight. But, really he was more amused at what Magnus would be coming home to later. Oh, revenge would be so, so sweet. Or well, to Alec it would be.

Vaguely, Alec wondered if this revenge would really be worth it in the end, and he decided that it definitely would be. And anyway, he couldn't wait to see the look on Magnus's face when he got home. He just hoped Magnus didn't get angry and instead found it at least a little amusing. And, Alec also hoped that Chairman Meow would eventually forgive him for what he was about to do the poor, currently unsuspecting cat.

Once the door to the flat had shut securely behind its warlock inhabitant, Alec waited about five minutes before getting up from the couch. It wouldn't do to have Magnus come back and ruin the surprise. The Shadowhunter walked around, looking for the unfortunately accessory in the act he was about to commit, finding the Chairman knowledgably hiding in the bedroom under a dresser.

Spending about ten minutes trying to coax the small cat out of its hiding place, Alec eventually gave up and went straight to the bribery approach. He retrieved the cat's food container from the kitchen and shook it, waiting to see if he'd actually have to go back to the bedroom to get the cat out. He didn't.

Chairman Meow came bounding out of the bedroom and stopped near Alec, looking at him half with distrust at his motives and half just waiting to be fed. Magnus probably hadn't done it that morning since Alec normally did anyway. Sometimes, he swore that cat was more his than the warlock's, but that hardly mattered at the moment. Maybe feeding him would help lessen the cat's anger later, so Alec poured some of the food in the little bowl for him.

Once Chairman Meow was finished eating his breakfast, Alec scooped him up, which earned him a very loud, angry meow from the small feline.

"Hush you," he said, cradling the cat to him and stroking the Chairman's tiny, fluffy head, in hopes that he wouldn't get clawed or bitten in the trip from the kitchen to the bathroom.

However, the small cat seemed to realize just where they were headed and tried to make a mad dash from Alec's grip to hide under the dresser again, ultimately failing. Alec closed and locked the door behind him, just in case the cat tried another quick escaping act. Chairman Meow, instead, retreating to a corner under the sink and gave Alec a betrayed look. Alec looked at him with a raised eyebrow and said, "I feed you. Now get over here."

Still looking rather betrayed, Chairman Meow crept from under the sink just a little, and a little was just enough for Alec to grab him again. Chairman hissed at the Shadowhunter and tried to scratch him, but being so small his legs were very short, so his paws came up short as Alec unceremoniously dumped him in the bathtub and turned on the water.

An hour and roughly thirty scratches and bite marks, Alec smiled as he looked at his boyfriend's cat. That hadn't been nearly as hard to do as he'd previously thought it would be. Chairman Meow was anything but happy, but he was thankful to be away from the bathroom and the dreadful, dreadful bathtub. That thing was like a torture device designed for cats owners' to put the cats in when they misbehaved, but Chairman hadn't the slightest idea what he could have possibly done to upset Alec enough for the punishment he'd endured, so he just gave the young Shadowhunter a nasty look and sauntered away to the living room once his fur was suitably dry once more.

Alec couldn't help but smirk at the sight of the small cat, and he really couldn't wait for Magnus to get home and see it. This was either going to be the greatest thing since umbrellas or the worst experience of his life. Just a matter of time now…

It was barely even half an hour later when the door opened and Magnus entered the flat, looking in a mostly cheerful mood. Alec hoped that would help his reaction just a little. "Hey," the Shadowhunter boy said from where he was sitting, now in a chair and no longer lounging on the couch.

Magnus smiled at him and walked over to sit on the boy's lap before saying "Hey" back to him, sounding a little tired. Then he leaned down and kissed Alec on the mouth.

The moment they pulled apart was the moments that Chairman Meow decided to make an appearance, assumingly having heard Magnus enter and deciding it was safe to roam around again. Magnus's eyes narrowed at the appearance. "Alexander, what did you do to my cat?"

"I didn't do anything," Alec shot back while fighting a smile. "And don't call me Alexander."

"Alec, he's _red_. What did you do to him?"

Alec had to smile. "You always said you liked the color red."

"Not on my cat!" Magnus said voice louder than it really should have been. He picked up his precious Chairman and examined him closer. "What sort of dye did you use…?"

"The box is still in the bathroom."

Magnus got up and walked to find out the answer to his question. When he came back, he looked a mixture of amused and angry. "As it would seem," he said looking at his cat rather than Alec, "you're going to be that color for the next month."

The tiny cat just hissed in response. Then Magnus turned to Alec. "Why?"

"There is still glitter on my sweater."

Magnus blinked at him, rather incredulous. "You turned my cat red because I threw glitter on your sweater and it won't come off?"

Alec nodded. "It really only seemed fair."

"…Be so, so glad that I love you."

Alec just smiled as innocently as he could manage.

**Not my best. But, now I know I can waste about 700 words talking about a cat. And Chairman Meow enjoyed the attention he got in this one, except that he got dyed red.**

**Here's your preview for the next one~ Sunrise.**

**_**Even though he was tired, Alec really didn't much mind sitting on the roof, wrapped up in Magnus's arms as they watched the sun rise over the ocean.**_  
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	4. Sunrise

**I apologize that this took me like a month to finish. I had college orientation and just a bunch of other stuff to do. Since it took so long, it's like 500 words more than I had intended, just to give you more to read for the wait it took to get it. Also, I don't live in New York, so I don't know anything about the buildings and stuff there. If there's anything like completely off-base, just ignore it. Okay, I'll stop talking and let you read now. Enjoy!**

**Sunrise**

"Jace, would you _let go_!"

Alec was annoyed. Very annoyed, in fact, and he was a little angry, too. All he'd wanted to do since he woke up that morning was get to Magnus', but his siblings apparently had other plans for him. That morning he'd been held hostage by Isabelle and dragged to mall. She'd actually literally pulled him by his arm as they went from store to store where she'd forced him to try on all sorts of things. Most of them he would never actually wear of his own freewill, but she'd promised to let him be later if he just went along with it and humored her. That little adventure had ended in an amount of clothes that would completely fill Alec's closet, leaving no space behind for his beloved holey sweaters and jeans. He'd also been forced into trying on and now owning a pair of boots that more buckles on each shoe than he did fingers on both hands. Alec honestly had no clue what Isabelle was thinking when she'd forced him into getting those.

As soon as they'd gotten back to the Institute, Alec in a more sour mood than ever and Isabelle chatty and happy about how the morning had gone, Jace had grabbed a hold on Alec's upper arm and dragged him to the training room. Isabelle wandered off to put Alec's new clothes in his room while he wasn't there to protest loudly at her tossing out his sweaters which she had every single intention of doing.

"Jace Lightwood, if you don't let go right now!" Jace just continued to ignore Alec's protests as they traveled through the Institute's maze of hallways.

The older of the two continually tried to pull his arm free, but ultimately failed. So, much to his general dismay, he was dragged into the training room where Jace promptly dropped his grip on Alec's arm and moved back to avoid any potential blows thrown his way in anger. He seemed to have forgotten the fact that Alec was more passive than he was and probably wouldn't try to hit him any until he at least figured out why he'd been dragged to the room. Instead, the dark-haired Shadowhunter gave his adopted brother an icy look, beckoning for Jace to explain just what he was hoping to accomplish without ever speaking a word to the blond.

Jace rolled his eyes at Alec's annoyance. "I just want to train with someone well-trained for a little while," he said trying to seem innocent of anything particularly devious and only somewhat failing; Alec was ever so slightly suspicious, because Jace could have easily asked Isabelle and left him to be on his merry way to his boyfriend's.

"And Isabelle isn't well-trained?" Alec asked voicing his thoughts on the matter. "Because you could have just as easily dragged her in here."

"You and I both know it's safer for everyone if we don't bother Isabelle for a while after she's been shopping."

Alec was quiet for a moment before sighing. "Okay, point taken. But, you could have just waited."

"Nope," Jace said simply. "Now c'mon. The faster you comply, the faster I let you leave." He moved to a fighting pose.

Alec sighed again before doing the same.

It lasted for a number of hours before Alec sat his bottom on the floor and refused to move another muscle until Jace agreed that they were done. It was nearly five in the afternoon for goodness sake! And he still wanted to go to Magnus'.

At long last though, his siblings seemed to have no more ideas in stalling that and, after a very quick shower to erase the stench of sweat from training, Alec finally made his way out of the Institute without a tagalong younger sibling, mind firmly set on reaching the flat in Brooklyn as quickly as he possibly could.

And, Alec reached it in record time, having taken a rather sketchy sort of shortcut that normally he avoided like the plague. Granted, he was willing to risk his life a little bit on account that he hadn't seen his boyfriend for nearly two weeks due to very, very conflicting schedules.

He made his way up the stairs and inside Magnus', having made use of the key he'd been supplied with ages back. However, the warlock was nowhere to be seen once Alec stopped, standing in the living room area. He looked around confused for a moment before hearing a loud crash coming from the kitchen. Why Magnus even had a kitchen was a mystery to Alec; the warlock could just snap his fingers and have food appear right in front of him.

The young Shadowhunter followed the sound and entered the room, startled by the sight in front of him. The entire kitchen was a mess and so was Magnus strangely enough.

"Um…Magnus?" Alec said tentatively when the warlock didn't notice his entrance.

Seeming startled, Magnus gave a little jump before turning around, his cat eyes widening at seeing his boyfriend standing in the doorway. "Alec!" he said trying to cover it up but failing miserably. "How long have you been standing there?"

Alec's eyebrows pulled together. "About a minute…" he replied. "What are you doing exactly?"

"I was being the super amazing boyfriend that I am and trying to make something for you the Mundie way. It just…didn't go quite the way I thought it would." At that moment Chairman Meow fell from the ceiling with a loud yowl before darting off and leaving a trail of some sort of batter behind.

Alec couldn't help it. After seeing Magnus all messy and a tiny cat fall from the ceiling, he burst out laughing. Then he made his way through the mess and wrapped his arms around Magnus, who, by now, was scowling at him. "You never cease to amaze me," Alec muttered resting his head on Magnus' chest, not caring that doing so probably got batter in his hair.

"Isn't it your job to amaze me?" Magnus asked smiling again.

Alec shrugged, letting go and looking around. "I think we should clean this up…and then you can just snap up some food or something."

"But, I wanted it to be filled with love!" Magnus protested.

"It's the thought that counts?" Alec offered trying to show Magnus that it didn't matter to him if the warlock could cook him things the Mundane way or not.

Magnus sighed and snapped his fingers, instantly cleaning everything and then again to make some takeout containers appear on the table. Alec smiled and walked over to grab them. "Can we eat outside?" he asked. "I've been stuck in buildings all day."

"Sure," Magnus said with a nod.

And so, they went outside to the roof of the building. Alec looked around it stunned after they'd reached the top of the stairs. "Why is there a garden up here?"

Magnus shrugged, conjuring up a table for them to sit at while they ate dinner. "It's probably better not to question it. Just appreciate that it's pretty up here and not just empty space."

Alec nodded in agreement to the statement and they sat down to eat.

Some hours later, the table was vanished and replaced with a blanket that the couple was now sitting on.

"So, let me get this straight," Alec said. "You bribed my siblings to keep me busy, and sacrificed time we could have spent together, just so you could make a mess of your kitchen?"

"I didn't intend to make a mess of the kitchen, Alexander," Magnus defended himself, "but yes, that is the general idea."

Alec didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed. He decided to just shrug it off and enjoy the time with Magnus that he was getting.

They stayed up on the roof well into the night, just chatting and enjoying each other's presence, which they didn't get to do nearly often, enough with the busy schedules their lives presented them with. At some unknown hour, due to their lack of a clock on the roof, Alec began yawning and curled up in Magnus' arms, not willing to get up and go back downstairs to rest. There was nothing wrong with roof anyway; the weather was nice enough and the company was fantastic.

They seemed to have completely lost track of time, because by the time they even thought about moving from the roof, the sun was beginning to rise. Magnus shifted a little, holding Alec even tighter as they just sat there and watched it. The rising sun gave them both a sense of happiness, since it signified their ability to just be with each other and talk for hours and hours without hesitation. It also painted the sky a very nice mixture of colors, which was just nice and they enjoyed the moment. It was broken, however, by Alec's millionth yawn, at which point Magnus decided it was time to go inside and go to sleep. "Are you going to be able to walk yourself down the steps, or do I have to carry you?"

Alec shrugged as he attempted to stand up so that Magnus could at least get up. Once he'd made it to his feet, he wobbled a little, but didn't fall. Magnus also stood, snapping away any evidence that they had been on the roof before scooping his Shadowhunter up in his arms, not listening to Alec's protests.

The two made the journey back to Magnus' flat and were very soon snuggled up under the comforter on the bed, sleeping the day away as the sun rose completely in the sky.

**There's no preview this time, because I don't know which one I'm doing next from my chart of prompts. And, I won't know until you guys decide. Pick a number 1-100. The first one I get is the one I'll write. Seems more interesting for everyone that way. **


	5. Home

**Sorry that this has taken like...forever to get out. I've been getting ready for college just recently started my freshman year and have been adjusting to living in my dorm and away from home for the first time. I'm also sorry that this is so short, but it's got some mega fluff and cute stuff in it to hopefully help make up for that. Hopefully the future ones will take way less time to get written but I'm not going to make any promises, because that would probably just end in disappointment. Thanks to anyone who hasn't abandoned this despite the long time in between updates. You all are great. Hell, all of my readers are great just for reading. Anyway, I'll stop rambling now. ENJOY!**

**Home**

There was a difference between being home and feeling at home. Being at home, you were just in the place that sheltered you from the night and all the bad weather that the world decided to throw at you. And, sometimes, being at home didn't guarantee that you felt at home. After all, home is where the heart is and if the heart is elsewhere then it's not really home at all. It's just a place called home. Feeling at home is possibly the most wonderful feeling in the world.

However, it was also a strange feeling. Especially to Alec Lightwood.

Alec had honestly never felt at home anywhere before. Except for when he was with Magnus. It had been a feeling he hadn't been able to place at first, but after a while of thinking on it, it became evident. And based upon that, home definitely was where the heart is. Yeah, he loved his family and all of that jazz, but it just wasn't the same. Even after coming out to them all, Alec still wasn't as much himself in the Institute as he was when he was spending time with the man he loves. And he loved every moment of it.

Sometimes when he was around Magnus, Alec found himself acting and reacting to things differently than he ever had. It surprised him at first, but then he realized that it just felt so much more natural to behave how he was and then embraced it. Trust Magnus to teach Alec things about himself even after he thought he was sure of who he was as a person.

But, Alec wasn't the only one that felt different.

Now, Magus Bane was several centuries old and he'd had his fair share of love in that time, but nothing was like this. Alec…Alec was different. Magnus had also called so many places home at one point or another that things started to blur into one. He'd lived all over the world and knew more languages than any other person could claim to know. But that was because no place had ever felt just right to him. There had always been something missing, something that he was searching for, blind to what that something actually was.

Coming to New York had been one of the best decisions he'd ever made. Upon arriving to the city, something had felt different to him. It felt as though the city was the place that he was finally meant to stay in. Unfortunately, the journey there was several decades too early and Magnus had left again. However, he'd felt draw back to the tall towers and bustling city life sometime later. He'd never gone to a place more than once before. He never regretted it though, especially not after meeting Alec for the first time.

Things had progressed on from there and Magnus finally felt like he was in a place that he could truly call home. The feeling just increased the more he saw Alec and the closer the two of them got. Hearing Alec tell Magnus that he loves him for the first time just cemented Magnus' feeling that New York was definitely the right place for him to be.

Every moment that he got to feel Alec leaning against his chest or snuggled into his side made Magnus happier than he'd been since…he couldn't even remember when. Maybe ever. He finally felt that maybe this was where he was supposed to be, even if (due to Alec's mortality) it was just something temporary. Magnus was going to savor every moment of feeling right, of feeling at home, that he could get.

"I love you," Alec said looking up at Magnus with his bright, blue eyes and a smile on his face. They were cuddled up on Magnus' couch yet again, enjoying each other's company and the feelings it brought to both of them.

Magnus smiled back down at him. "I love you too, Alec."

He leaned down then, catching Alec's lips with his own. Shifting a little to turn more into the kiss, Alec returned it. When they pulled apart again the two just looked into each other's eyes, smiling. If anyone were to walk in the room at that moment, they would wonder if they'd walked into one of those cheesy romance movies. Alec and Magnus wouldn't have cared though. All they cared about were each other at the moment and the wonderful feeling of finally being at home that being together brought them.


	6. Blood

**Look! It didn't take like three months this time! And is longer than normal, just slightly. On the other hand, it's mildly angsty. I mean, just look at the subject manner. Enjoy anyway!**

**Also, sorry if the name change disoriented or confused anyone. I'm fickle and like to change it when I think of something clever. *shrugs***

**Blood**

Magnus had never been particularly fond of the color red. He was even more inclined to say he hated the color now that he'd been faced with it so often. Being in love with a Shadowhunter had led Magnus to seeing a large quantity of blood over a short expanse of time than he was by any means used to. And it was even worse that normally this dark, red blood covered Alec. It would have been less heart-wrenching and painful if it had been Jace or Isabelle or Clary covered in the warm, sticky liquid. But damn Alec always had to protect everyone. So, Magnus was often faced with the love of his immortal life splattered in red. He'd run out of fingers and toes to count the times he'd had to heal Alec up after a long day and he was a warlock. He could magically add extra fingers and toes if he wanted to, so that was definitely saying something.

Today was no exception. Magnus had woken up alone, the left side of the bed tellingly cold from Alec having left hours ago. Sighing to himself and wishing for just _one _day where he woke up to Alec laying beside him instead of out training or fighting off yet another hoard of demons, the warlock dragged himself out of bed, wiping the sleep and excess eyeliner from his eyes as he did so. He almost never remembered to remove his makeup the night before anymore. His mind was often on…other things. Not that Magnus was complaining any.

His day had carried on like normal, and he spent every single moment wishing Alec had the day off to stay with him. Not that Chairman Meow was bad company. He was just a little dry when it came to conversation, being a cat and all. Vaguely, Magnus wondered if he should spell the cat and give him the ability to talk. Grimacing at the mere thought, he quickly decided against it. That feline was likely to have some very sharp-tongued words for his sometimes negligent owner.

Sprawling over the couch, Magnus lazily flipped through television channels. He had no clients to tend to currently and Alec was still out, busy saving the world. What was a warlock to do? With today's millionth sigh, he settled in and got comfortable, having found an America's Next Top Model marathon. He'd seen the episodes already but the show never got old to him.

Having nearly dozed off while watching, he was rather startled when the loud sounds of music filled his ears. Blinking a couple of times, he registered that it was his cell phone. The one Isabelle had made sure she had the number to in case of emergencies. Technically, it was his business phone number for people who couldn't bother with fire messages, but that wasn't important. What was important was the message on the other side of the ringing.

Hitting the accept button for the call, the phone was immediately at Magnus' ear. "Isabelle?" he said, praying that is wasn't Alec again.

Unfortunately, Magnus Bane had never had much luck when it came to much of anything and in seconds he was headed out the door, leaving the television on and Chairman Meow meowing at the departure of his cuddling buddy.

Arriving at the location that Isabelle had given him, Magnus immediately took in the scene before him. There wasn't a person there that wasn't injured in some way. Just what the hell had they been up against?

Pushing that question aside, his eyes trained on the pale face of Alec. The young Shadowhunter was settled in his sister's arm, Isabelle looking at Magnus pleadingly, the phone she used to call him still clutched tightly in her hand and streaked with blood. Magnus didn't want to know whose it was. Quickly, the gold-green cat eyes took stock of Alec's injuries, noting with some panic that Alec's chest was barely rising and falling and that there was a large puddle of blood just to the left of the two siblings. He had to assume that Isabelle had moved Alec out of it and into her arms a moment or so before.

Rushing over to the two of them, he instructed Isabelle to lay Alec on the ground so that he would have room to assess the wounds and heal Alec up again, since he seemed to be the worst off at the moment…as always. Magnus' fingers were already bathed in blue before he was done figuring out what needed work first, spread and ready to get to work. And work it would be. This was probably the worst that Alec had been since the attack from the Greater Demon some time ago.

Getting to work, Magnus told Isabelle to make sure the others would be alright while he worked on her brother. It wouldn't do to have one of them drop dead or unconscious while he was fixing Alec. Sure, Alec was top priority to Magnus, but his siblings were important to him, so Magnus took care of them as well.

Biting his bottom lip, the warlock mentally urged the wounds to heal quicker than they were; Alec was losing simply too much blood, much too quickly. The red was beginning to form a second puddle on the ground and while he wasn't anywhere near being a doctor, Magnus was positive that that wasn't good at all. _At all._

Pushing even more magic into the healing, he could feel himself getting tired, but this needed to be done. The sense of urgency in the air had gotten near stifling by this point. It wasn't until ten or fifteen minutes after he started the healing process that the wounds seemed closed enough that Alec _might _not die from blood loss. Those minutes had felt like hours to Magnus and his hands were shaking in a very uncharacteristic manner. Magnus Bane didn't get scared of things. He was eight hundred years old; getting scared just wasn't something that was done anymore. He'd seen as much as a person possibly could. But anything involving Alec scared him more than he'd ever been in his entire life; it scared him more than probably anything ever would.

But at the same time that he was scared, Magnus almost felt relieved. Alec wasn't bleeding anymore, that was something. Now he just had to get his Shadowhunter to wake up and look at him with those gorgeous blue eyes of his. That would be when Magnus truly calmed down about the whole mess.

And when Alec was free of his blood soaked clothes.

Doing another once over, Magnus assured himself that Alec would be okay and turned to the others, silently assessing their conditions as well. None were anywhere near as bad and they would be alright with some antiseptic and bandages. There was no danger to their lives.

Glitter fell to the pavement as Magnus looked at Alec again. The younger male's breathing seemed to be coming easier now that the wounds that had been splayed across his chest were healed up and the color was beginning to return from the deathly pale it had been. He could have just been sleeping were it not for the red splattered on his face and across his arms. Magnus could even see the red on the dark color of Alec's shirt, not to mention the bits of his chest that could be seen through the tears in the shirt.

With a small pained noise, as he probably still had a few untended wounds or forming bruises that Magnus had missed, Alec's eyes fluttered a little. Pulling his into his arms, Magnus pushed Alec's hair from his face where it was slightly stuck thanks to the blood there and waited for the blue eyes to open, even if it was just a little. It would mean that Alec was really okay after all; it would mean that he wasn't going to die.

When the dazzling blue did finally open, Magnus couldn't help but smile and he could feel Isabelle relaxing somewhere behind him as she tended to Jace and Clary, happy that her brother was healed enough to be fine in a day or two probably.

"M-Magnus?" was the first thing out of Alec's mouth as soon as his eyes were open and clear enough to figure out who was cradling him to their chest.

"You have really got to stop scaring me like that, love," was Magnus' reply.

"'m sorry…" Alec felt dizzy and weak and his speaking was quiet and almost slurred. He tried to move so that he could see more of Magnus, but just lacked the proper energy for it.

"It's okay," Magnus said, barely refraining from sighing. They'd gone through this conversation before. "I know you can't help it. It's in your personality after all."

"Still sorry…" Alec muttered, trying to keep his eyes from slipping closed again but he was feeling rather drained and just wanted to rest for a while.

Magnus ran his fingers through Alec's hair softly. "It's okay, love, really. Just rest now."

Alec nodded tiredly and let his eyes close again, knowing Magnus wouldn't have told him to rest if it hadn't been safe for him to sleep for some reason. He trusted the warlock with his life after all.

"Is he going to be okay?" Isabelle asked as she walked up behind Magnus, having finished with the others.

Magnus nodded. "He'll be perfectly alright. Not even a scar to show for it," he answered. And Magnus was proud of his ability to prevent Alec from being covered in millions of scars, which would have been more than likely with how the Nephilim threw himself into dangerous situations far more often than he should.

Isabelle smiled at him. "Thanks, Magnus. I don't know where he'd be without you…"

Magnus just nodded, a slightly sad look coming to his eyes. He couldn't stop Alec from always ending up covered in blood somehow, but at least he could keep him alive and well after that did happen.

He just wished that he didn't have to see the warm, sticky, red liquid quite as much as he did.

**I don't normally beg for reviews, but Home only got ONE and I was a little bummed after the response to the first few. So, more would be lovely. Please and thank you.**


	7. Dance

**Oh my, what's this? A fairly fast update? Well, then. I felt inspired, so this was born really quickly. Um, yeah. I'm sure you all are happy that this was out at a reasonable amount of time. I did promise to work on getting updates out quicker. So, yeah, enjoy!**

**OH and before I forget, I've been thinking about just making this into 50 one-shots instead of 100. Would it crush anyone's hopes or something if I did that? Because, I'd like to avoid that...**

**And vote in my poll, please. **

**Dance**

The floor was lit with several different colored lights. Blue, green, red, yellow, purple. And Magnus looked amazing under the glow of all of them. Alec couldn't tear his eyes away from the dancing warlock. When Magnus danced he absolutely radiated energy and sexiness. But, Alec didn't dance. Which was why he was holed up in the darkest corner he could find, watching his boyfriend and feeling like a stalker. He had no idea how Magnus had talked him into going to the club in the first place.

…Actually, thinking back, it was _probably _on the one night…

Alec shook the thoughts of it from his mind, lest it lead to rather complicated things that he would rather avoid at the moment. Instead, he focused his attention back to Magnus. The sight alone almost made Alec want to get up and join him on the dance floor, but it wasn't quite enough. And, Alec wasn't anywhere near comfortable with himself to get up and dance anyway. Not in front of people at least. However, he could dance if he decided to. Magnus had forced Alec to dance with him plenty of times in the apartment to discover that all the Shadowhunter training had made Alec agile enough to dance well when he loosened up enough to do that. It also enabled him to do several other things, but that wasn't important at the moment.

Focusing his attention yet again, Alec was momentarily startled and confused because Magnus was not where he had been a moment before. Then he caught a glimpse of sparkle to his left and look over in that direction just in time to see Magnus making his way towards him.

"_Hello,__gorgeous,__" _Magnus said in a tone that suggested that he was just seeing Alec for the first time ever in his life, even though that was far, far, far from the truth. It did have the intended effect, though, and Alec's face colored to a nice red shade which wasn't completely noticeable in the lighting of the building.

"Magnus!" Alec said, trying to make the color in his face disappear again.

The warlock in question just grinned at him, looking like a very devious Cheshire cat. "You have to be bored over here all alone," he said. "Come dance with me?"

Alec felt that maybe he should have seen this coming, with it being Magnus and everything, but he still shunned away the question. "I'm fine just watching you dance," he answered.

"You were watching me dance," Magnus said more than asked, "this whole time?"

Alec felt his face go red all over again as he nodded. "You're very good at it."

"I have had eight hundred years to practice," Magnus admitted looking amused. "But that doesn't change the fact that I want you to dance with me." His expression changed to one of near pleading. He knew the expression was a particular weak point for Alec who had never been able to say no to Magnus' kicked puppy dog face that he _always_pulled out when he wanted something.

"Magnus…" Alec said looking helpless because of Magnus' expression. "I don't…I'll just make a fool of myself. Especially next to you."

"You could never make a fool of yourself for trying something, at least not in my eyes," Magnus negotiated. "Please, love? For me?"

He was really pulling out all of the stops tonight.

With a facial expression that looked more like he was being asked to perform his own execution, Alec gave in. "Fine. But, only for one song. And then I'm coming back to this corner to get over how mortifying much I will have embarrassed myself."

Magnus didn't think that Alec would embarrass himself, but he kept his mouth shut on the topic. He'd gotten Alec to give in and he wasn't about to chance ruining that by saying something that might upset the Shadowhunter again and make him retract his agreement. Instead, he reached out and grabbed Alec's hand, pulling him from his seat and the corner and into the lights. Alec put up a little resistance, because that's just how he is, but relented soon enough, allowing himself to just be pulled along.

Magnus led the two of them to the dance floor, but near the edge instead of the middle where he had been earlier. He knew that Alec would feel more comfortable this way, where he wasn't packed into a confined space with a hundred strangers surrounding him. Once they were in place, he started out simple and swayed to the beat of the music, pulling Alec with him.

"C'mon, Alec," he said. "Relax. Just go with the flow. I know you can."

Alec, on the other hand, just looked terrified and self-conscious. He hoped that the song would end soon so that he could escape again, having fulfilled his one song compromise. He swayed along with Magnus, however, thankfully that the song hadn't been one of those super-fast songs that required a lot of movement to dance to. It seemed that the song they had entered upon to dance to was either just started or was incredibly long, because it seemed to just drag on forever.

Although, by that time, Alec had started to relax and forget the people around him and Magnus. His dancing motions became more fluid and less blocky and he started to do things on his own without Magnus guiding his every step.

In public.

It was enough to make Magnus grin again.

The song even changed at some point, but Alec didn't leave the dance floor again like he'd said he would. The world around him had ceased to exist, in his mind, and all he saw was Magnus. It was just like dancing at the apartment. Why had he ever been scared of this? It was wonderful.

Without noticing, the two of them had migrated farther from the edge and soon looked like they were a part of the massive crowd in the middle, while still being completely separate from them. It was Magnus and Alec and then the rest of the world. And if this happened every time Magnus managed to drag Alec somewhere public and wild and crazy and made him dance…well, Alec could get very used to it.

**I can't dance, and so I obviously didn't try to write it. I hope you liked it anyway. See ya next time!**


	8. Relax

**Okay, so I am attempting (for the third year in a row) to do NaNoWriMo. As many of you probably know, that's when you write 50,000 words in the month of November. In light of that, except several updates rather than like two. I'm using this and another fic (which is currently unpublished) to reach my 50,000. **

**With that said, this took on a mind of its own and I'm sorry if it's strange or weird or choppy. Regardless of that, enjoy!**

**Relax**

Sprawled across the leather couch Magnus had snapped into their entirely too spacious hotel room, Alec watched the warlock as he healed up a rather deep cut on Alec's forearm. The story behind how he got the cut…Well, he didn't want to get into it. It was mortifyingly embarrassing.

Anyway, he was watching as Magnus healed it back up. Alec never stopped being amazed at how the healing process looked. He obviously hadn't seen through his first experience with it, but any time after that he had. Honestly, Alec was fascinated by the way the skin would carefully knit itself back together in an array of bright blue lines. It was almost as though the magic was acting like stitches, the way it wove and pulled the cut closed. Only, it worked so much better and quicker than stitches ever had. Magical healing also didn't hurt any afterwards, for obvious reasons Alec supposed.

Soon enough, Magnus was done with his doctor work and Alec moved to sit up so that the warlock could sit down, although it made his head swim a little to move quickly. Just how much blood had he lost?

Once Magnus was seated, Alec maneuvered himself so that he was leaned against Magnus with his eyes closed almost as though he intended to fall asleep on him. Noticing, Magnus looked at him in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked wondering if the magic had gone wrong somewhere.

Alec nodded against Magnus' shoulder. "Why do you ask?"

"You aren't normally this openly affectionate," was Magnus' simple reply.

"Well," Alec reasoned, "no one's in here but you and me. And, I might be suffering from blood loss ever so slightly, but that'll right itself soon enough." He moved his head to look up at Magnus. "You make a good pillow."

"Good to know, darling," Magnus said with a smile.

Alec smiled back at him and snuggled a little closer, liking the warmth that radiated off of Magnus. It was pleasant. His head was starting to feel a little less dizzy now, but not well enough for him to be sitting up on his own.

While lying there Alec was thinking, since the two had fallen into a nice, comfortable silence. After pooling his thoughts together, he looked at Magnus, shifting a little to sit up more. The dizziness had gone away in the time he'd been thinking, so it was okay to sit up now. Magnus raised an eyebrow at Alec as he did so, wondering just what the Shadowhunter was doing.

"Magnus…" the young Shadowhunter started, sounding rather unsure of himself. "Why exactly did you suggest we take this…vacation?"

Magnus just shrugged. "I figured we could both use the break from reality after everything that's happened recently."

"Oh…" Alec muttered frowning a little. "Hmm…"

Magnus made a face that was a mixture of amused and confused. "Did you have other possible reasons in mind, Alexander?"

Alec shook his head. "No, I was just wondering," he answered with a shrug.

"Are you sure?"

"Quite."

Magnus gave Alec a look that said he didn't quite believe the Shadowhunter, but let the topic drop nonetheless. For the time being that is. Magnus had every intention of finding out just what Alec _thought _his goal was.

The two lapsed into a silence and Alec ended up falling over to lay on Magnus's lap with his legs stretched out and over the edge of the couch they were on due to his height. Magnus threaded his fingers gently through Alec's hair, very much enjoying this open affection he was getting. He also enjoyed getting to see Alec completely relaxing. The teenager worried far too much about things that were basically out of his control and it worried Magnus sometimes when he saw the deep look of worry and all sorts of other things come into Alec's eyes. It made him want to snap his fingers and make all of the troubles in the world disappear forever. If only he could…

Magnus had been so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed Alec's eyes trained on his face and was rather startled to look down and see the bright blue of Alec's irises looking directly at him. "Yes, love?" he asked trying to seem like he hadn't just been startled.

"What were you thinking about?" Alec asked innocently. "You looked very lost in thought for a moment there."

"It's not important," Magnus said almost lying. It wasn't necessarily important in everyday life or important to Alec, but it was important to Magnus.

"It looked pretty important," Alec persisted.

Magnus shrugged, smiling at his Shadowhunter. "You wouldn't find it very important," he replied trying to change the topic.

"I might…" Alec had a pout forming. "What were you thinking about? Please tell me?" The tone with which he said the last question made Magnus want to groan. He could never fight against that tone; it always got Alec his way.

"I was thinking about you, darling," he relented after barely any fight on the matter.

"Oh…" Alec muttered. He couldn't decide if that was good or bad, but since it was Magnus he had a strong feeling that it was a good thing.

Magnus smiled at Alec with a nod. "I was thinking about how adorable you are all sprawled out and relaxed," he said only half lying. He _had _been thinking about how Alec was relaxed and Alec _was _pretty adorable all the time. Magnus figured he could get away with it. "It makes me happy that you can relax once in a while instead of worrying about demons and problems with people like Jace, who are like magnets for the stuff."

Alec felt a light pink blush work its way to his face. He still wasn't used to all the random compliments, no matter how simple or small they seemed. He bit his bottom lip, trying to will it away again lest Magnus comment on that as well. "I love you," he said filling the small silence that had transcended.

"I love you too." Then Magnus grinned mischievously. "I told you what I was thinking about. Now you have to return the favor and tell me what you thought this trip was for."

Alec barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "_Magnus_," he whined. "I told you already. I have no idea. I was just simply curious earlier."

Magnus smirked. As if he was going to accept that as an answer. But, he gave in again…for the time being. He would rather not upset Alec or work him up in any way when he was so relaxed. "Fine, fine," he muttered. "I'll let it drop. For now. But you will tell me at some point before we go back to New York."

Alec gave him a miserable look. "Why can't you just believe me?"

"Because I know you better than that."

Alec pulled out his best puppy dog eyes, but Magnus just shook his head. "You're not getting out of this one, Alexander Lightwood. You will tell me or you will suffer the consequences."

"Well, since I know you'd never hurt me, I'm not really worried about those…" Alec replied with a more confident look in his eyes than normal. He would win this time. He was sure of it.

"You seem to have forgotten the incident with the glitter and your sweater, darling."

Alec scowled. "I'm still not telling you."

"You will." Magnus was sure. "And I have plenty of time to get it out of you. For now though, just relax. I'm not going to try anything."

Alec gave Magnus a skeptical look, but his shoulders sagged back into the position they were in before, having tensed up a little during the conversation. He would just have to be on his guard. Oh yes, he would.

**As you can probably already guess, there will be a part two to this one. I don't know if it will follow directly after this chapter or if it will show up later. Just a warning there. These things get published as I get ideas for them. Granted, this one was supposed to go a completely different way...Ehhh. See y'all next time!**

**P.S. Reviews are like chocolate to me and I love my chocolate. Vote on the poll on my profile page. And this is my first ever anything to be longer than 10,000 words (collectively that is. I still don't understand how people can write 10,000 word one-shots) :D **


	9. See

**You guys are going to become spoiled. I have problems not posting these as soon as I have them finished and it was hard to make myself wait even two days between them. I had this finished the same night I wrote Relax. It's not the second part to that particular story, however, so I apologize for that. The one after this one isn't the second part either. I'll probably do it after that one though. Now, I'm going to hush up and let you read. Enjoy~**

**See**

It was easy to be invisible. That didn't take any effort at all. All Alec ever had to do was stand next to Jace or Isabelle and he was invisible. And he liked it that way. He liked it that way a lot. He never particularly wanted to be seen. Being seen meant that people were watching you, judging you, and that was really the last thing that Alec ever wanted to have happen to him. He was just fine and content with living in the shadows of his siblings. He had absolutely no problem with it at all. It was easy to overlook simple, uninteresting Alexander Lightwood anyway.

He didn't call attention to himself.

He wasn't deadly and dangerous looking like Isabelle was no matter if she tried to look innocent or not. She just secreted a feeling that she could kick your ass in a second if you pissed her off. That's what made her Isabelle Lightwood. And there was no need to even explain how Jace drew attention to himself. Reckless, stupid, gorgeous Jace. It was his shadow that Alec fell into the most. It was Alec's favorite hiding place for so many years that he hardly knew how to function without it.

Alec did not like attention being directed at him, nor did he really ever want it. His self-esteem and self-confidence just couldn't handle people potentially judging him. Now as he was now, at least. Maybe someday…but not now.

However, when he least expected it everything changed. Attention was practically thrown at him and it nearly knocked him off balance there was so much of it with so much force behind it. When you get noticed by Magnus Bane, _The_Magnus Bane, well, it was a lot to handle and for someone as used to hiding behind others as Alec was it was like being hit head on with a hurricane.

He hadn't known how to react at first. All Alec wanted to do was run and hide in the shadows again. He didn't want the attention of the sparkly, energetic warlock that had so forcefully pushed his way into Alec and everyone else's lives. It would only serve to draw too much attention to him alone, since Magnus seemed to be most fond of the eldest Lightwood. And that was definitely attention that Alec did not want. He was trying to protect his secret after all.

Shortly thereafter, though, he became used to the insane amount of attention and affection tossed at him by Magnus. And Alec was happy. He'd never known being the center of someone's attention could bring him so much happiness, but Magnus practically radiated happiness most of the time and it was hard for Alec to continuously push him away and hide in his shell again. So, he gave that up and embraced it. So, Alec Lightwood fell in love, something that probably wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been pulled into the light, something that probably wouldn't have happened if those cat-like eyes hadn't seen him as something different and special the night of that one party.

This time it wasn't Jace that stood out.

This time it wasn't Isabelle either.

This time it was Alec and he was growing to love it.

Magnus made him feel wanted and special. Magnus was the main reason that, after eighteen long years, Alec was finally growing into the person he was meant to be. He was gaining confidence and was learning how to be himself without having to hide away in the dark shadows of other people. Now, he didn't understand why Magnus saw him of all people, when his two wonderful, attractive siblings had been standing right there as well, but Alec had decided not to question it.

And he told Magnus all of this one day when they were spending time together.

Magnus just chuckled. "You just don't see yourself very clearly yet, love," he reasoned leaning his head to the side and resting it on top of Alec's. "Hopefully someday you will, and then you'll see what I see every single time that I look at you."

Alec frowned. "And just what _do_you see?" he asked.

"Simple," Magnus replied with a smile. "I see a strong, intelligent boy who not only has a heart bigger than anyone I've ever met, but who is also one of the most gorgeous people I have ever met. He's just too frightened to flaunt it yet."

Alec's face turned a deep crimson and he turned to bury it in Magnus's shirt. "I'm not any of that," he mumbled into the fabric. "You're just…" What was he going to do? Call Magnus a liar, insane? That didn't seem right. Magnus wouldn't lie to him and he certainly wasn't insane.

Alec was at a loss.

After a moment he whispered very quietly, "Am I really of that to you?" Then he lifted his head and said at a more normal volume, "You've been alive for hundreds of years. I can't really be that special…"

"You are that special, Alec," was all Magnus said. "And I hope that someday you can come to realize that. As an eight hundred year old warlock, I think I have the right to say just how special you are. I've seen and met a lot of people in my life. You are by far the best of the lot. I love you more than anything and you're just going to have to accept that along with how I see you. It's not going to change any time soon or at all if I have a say in the matter."

Alec wasn't sure whether he wanted to cry or to attack Magnus and kiss him a million times. There he went, making Alec feel happier than he'd ever been just with a few sentences. "You're amazing, you know," Alec said trying to keep his voice from betraying how he felt about the little speech. "Absolutely amazing."

He had a small smile playing on his lips, regardless of how he was trying to hide the pure bliss he was feeling. No one had ever said words so kind and so caring to him. Not from the perspective Magnus was at least.

Then, without giving Magnus time to respond to his compliments, Alec moved so that he could kiss Magnus. Alec so very rarely initiated any kisses shared, so it was almost monumental. He was still working up to that level where he was comfortable with doing that. It made Magnus's heart flutter in his chest every time.

And as Magnus got over his slight shock and kissed back, Alec thought that maybe finally being seen by someone wasn't such a bad thing at all. In fact, it wasn't. It was a wonderful thing and a wonderful feeling and he felt he could just get drunk off of it sometimes.

And Alec knew that he had Magnus to thank for bringing it to his attention.

**This one was a little strange, but I like it good enough. Reviews are like glitter.**


	10. Winter

**What's this? An update a day from Laci? Gasp! This is what NaNo does to me. And look how long this one is! I'm spoiling you guys.**

**Winter**

If there was anything that Magnus Bane was going to hate, it had to be winter. Sure, winter clothes could be cute, but hell if they weren't mostly bulky and horrendously unflattering on nearly all people. Especially up in New York where it was cold _and_it snowed. Magnus hated snow with a fiery passion as well. He was more of an autumn and spring person if anything. Much more moderate.

Now, there were some perks of winter, but none of them ever outweighed the parts of it that were just plain awful.

So, from about November to near April, Magnus Bane was not a pleasant person to be around at all. He was cranky and snappish throughout the coldest months of the year. Many had tried to change his mind about winter, but so far none had succeeded. That is, none succeeded until Alec Lightwood and his love of winter showed up in Magnus's life.

See, Alec simply adored winter. He loved everything about it from the bite of the cold wind across his nose to the numbness of his fingers when he forgot his gloves back at the Institute. Granted, winter made it harder to fight demons because of the ice and snow that littered the ground, but that didn't stop Alec from loving it. Jace and Isabelle on the other hand would be more inclined to agree with Magnus about the season. They were summer people.

In the winter, it was very rare for Alec to have a frown or any sort of displeasure on his face. He was all happiness and smiles. Not loud boisterous smiles though, they were more like his simple, small smiles and soft laughter that typically showed he was happy or pleased with something. Alec was never loud or boisterous about things.

And so, when he stepped into Magnus's life with his love and adoration of anything wintery, Magnus was forced to rethink his decision about hating winter. He didn't want to ruin Alec's great mood by being a sourpuss and sniping for several months. And maybe, just maybe he could grow to tolerate winter or even like it a little, if it made Alec happy. He liked it when Alec was happy.

It was a particularly biting winter day when Magnus finally changed his mind about the dreadful season. Alec had come over early that morning, not having anything much to do and having more freetime than he knew to do with. Demons were scarce in the winter, since they much preferred the warm weather and that put Shadowhunters with almost no pressing work and a lot of time to enjoy themselves. Alec elected to spend it with Magnus.

They were curled up on Magnus's couch with Chairman Meow nestled safely on Alec's lap, although he wouldn't be staying there for very long. Alec had other plans in mind, such as making his boyfriend and the love of his life enjoy winter, even if just for a day. He wasn't sure if it would work out in his favor or not, but he very much hoped that it would. Making Magnus happier in the dreary, snowy months would be an accomplishment that Alec allowed himself to be proud of instead of shoving the victory towards another person. But, first Alec had to actually succeed.

And Magnus knew that when the young Shadowhunter turned his attention away from their intertwined hands he was in for a wild ride that wasn't necessarily going to end happily for him.

"Hey, Magnus…." alec started softly, looking up at the gold-green eyes.

"Yes, love?" Magnus asked neutrally, ignoring the pit of dread building in his stomach. It was winter and he knew that Alec enjoyed the season and he was fearful about what was about to happen.

"Can we go outside? It's snowing and I just love the snow," Alec asked with an innocent smile on his face. "Please?"

Of course Alec would want to go outside in the snow….Magnus sighed quietly to himself. He really did not want to do this but he really had no other choice. If he said no, then Alec would frown and look back down and be all sad for a while and Magnus was hoping to avoid making Alec upset at all costs. It happened enough without him adding to it.

"Sure, we can go outside in the snow," he finally replied forcing a smile onto his face and nodding.

Alec's face lit up in a bright, almost childish grin. His plan was working out already; he had been banking on Magnus not wanting to upset him by turning down the request. Now the rest of it just had to fall into place as well. It shouldn't be too hard. He had been planning this for over a week. Get Magnus outside, have fun times in the snow, go back in and cuddle while contently sipping on hot chocolate. If the cuddling went half as well as Alec hoped then maybe Magnus would see that winter really wasn't so bad. It was great cuddling weather after all and Magnus was a cuddle monster.

Moving Chairman Meow gently from where he was curled, Alec hopped up eagerly and grabbed his heavy winter coat and scarf and gloves from where they rested after he entered the flat. Then he looked at Magnus expectantly, waiting for him to either snap something on or do it manually. Now, Magnus was slower at getting ready and did so with less enthusiasm than Alec had.

When they were both clad in their winter gear, Alec marched them outside, keeping Magnus's hand firmly in his as they stepped carefully down the slippery, icy stairs that led to the street. The destination he had in mind was the park. That would be an ideal location for fun in the snow and also it was far enough away from the flat that Magnus couldn't simply retreat back to home if he got annoyed enough with the weather.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," Alec said sounding like a small child on Christmas morning. Magnus grumbled under his breath, not that he didn't love seeing Alec so energetic. It was rare.

Their steps crunched as they traipsed through the snow ridden sidewalk and Alec was practically glowing with excitement. But, this time it wasn't for the season or being out in the snow; it was because his plan was working and he'd gotten Magnus outside with absolutely no fight about it.

"Alec," Magnus said after watching Alec bounce around for a while, "where exactly are you leading us?"

Alec turned to the slightly taller male and smiled widely. "The park of course! There's not enough snow around here to do much of anything. Too much city and not any nature. I want to build a snowman!"

Magnus sighed. Of course Alec wanted to build a snowman. Oh well, he supposed. He would just have to tough it out for the sake of his love and hopefully not have to do it again for the rest of winter.

The two reached the park rather quickly, due to the pace Alec had set and as soon as they were passed the entrance, Alec took off to a clear spot that was unmarred by footprints from other people. "Let's build it here!" he called back to Magnus, who had slowed down as soon as his hand had been released when Alec took off.

Crossing the distance, Magnus just stood there watching as Alec scoped out the area. Once he was satisfied that it would be good enough for his snowman he stooped down in the snow. Scooping a nice amount of snow into his gloved hand, Alec began to work it into the shape of a snowball so that he could roll it around and make it bigger for the snowman in a moment. Having made many snowmen growing up with his siblings, he considered himself somewhat a pro at building them. It had always been his goal to make one that was over six feet tall and now that he was basically that tall himself it could happen quite easily. And he had Magnus to help him this year. Isabelle and Jace had refused to help him build snowmen in the Institute's yard sometime after they were thirteen, so Alec had spent the last few years building them alone.

After making the beginning snowball, he looked at Magnus expectantly. Sighing to himself, Magnus strolled a little closer and raised an eyebrow. He'd never actually made a snowman before, so he wasn't sure of the exact process. He just knew they were usually like three giant snowballs high and had faces made of stuff. He also predicted that Alec would have him summon the stuff for the face with his magic, since they hadn't brought any of it along with them to the park.

"Can you start the second snowball?" Alec asked him with a smile as he began to make the first one larger by rolling it around on the ground.

Magnus nodded even though he wasn't fond of making snowballs or familiar with it. Crouching in a way that prevented the snow from touching any part of him but his shoes, Magnus scooped up his own handful of snow and began to mold it like he'd just watched Alec do with the first one. It was harder than it looked and he frowned when the small snowball shattered from him pressing it together too roughly and incorrectly. So much for learning by watching.

By the time he'd finally gotten the snowball to make and had it nicely rounded, Alec was already working on the third snowball to use for the snowman's head. Magnus spotted the large body snowball a few feet away. And when he said large, he meant it was huge and it made him very glad that it wasn't the middle one or that would have been a pain in the ass to pick up. Granted, he had magic but Magnus was unsure of how magic and snow cooperated, especially since his magic looked like fire when it was visible and that definitely didn't get along with snow in any way.

Rolling his now formed snowball around, Magnus finally got it to a size that was reasonable for the middle part of a snowman and pondered testing the magic thing on it to get it on top of the other one. But, since he'd worked _so_hard to get it made in the first place he wasn't going to risk it. "Hey, Alec," he called over his shoulder to the Shadowhunter that was rolling around a head-sized snowball, "help me get this one on top of the other one?"

Nodding and abandoning his work, Alec walked over and soon the second snowball was in place. Then he finished up making the snowman's head and that was easy enough for him to get on alone. Standing back once all three snowballs were in place, Alec smiled. It was well over six feet tall this time. It was only then that he realized that they hadn't brought along the necessities to make the face for the snowman. Frowning Alec looked over at Magnus and was about to open his mouth to ask the warlock to magic some up when a carrot and several large buttons (Magnus thought actual coal was too messy to use for the eyes and mouth) showed up in front of him. "You're wonderful," Alec complimented as he literally bounded over to the supplies and started arranging them on the top snowball.

Once he had them all firmly in place, he stood back again and admired the couple's handiwork. Sure, the snowman didn't have arms, but Alec didn't care. He'd reached his life's goal of a six foot tall snowman. He'd finally been tall enough and had enough help to accomplish it. Filled with joy, he hugged Magnus tightly which ultimately threw the two of them off balance. Magnus hadn't been expected the sudden affection and so hadn't had time to brace himself.

They fell into the snow Magnus on bottom and Alec on top of him. And the only thing on Magnus's mind was, _Holy__shit__that__'__s__cold!_

With wide eyes, Alec scrambled up and hoped Magnus wasn't angry or upset. He knew the warlock didn't like the cold or snow and here he had gone and practically shoved him down into it. Falling back on his bottom, he looked at Magnus sheepishly and innocently offering an apology with his eyes for what had just happened. "Sorry…" he mumbled, all the previous joy on his face gone.

Magnus pushed himself up and nearly slipped back down. The ground was very frozen under the snow and he'd fallen through practically all of it. Apparently there was ice at the bottom. Shivering, he stood and frowned at the snow clinging to his clothes. "It's fine," he said and his voice sounded clipped and annoyed no matter how he tried to keep the annoyance out of it. "Let's just…go."

Looking down ashamed, Alec stood up as well and nodded. "Okay."

Pushing Magnus down in the snow hadn't been part of his plan and Alec really hoped it didn't ruin or hinder it. Working it over quickly in his mind again, he thought that maybe it hadn't. The extra cold that had been a result of the fall had to help with the need for cuddling and such later. So if anything, it helped his plan? Alec was just going to hope that was the case.

With Alec's affirmation that they should go, Magnus turned on his heel and headed back to his apartment with Alec falling into step beside him as they walked. He felt bad for making Alec upset, but there was snow clinging to his jacket and he couldn't reach it to brush it off and Alec had snow on his gloves so he wouldn't be of any help.

The walk back seemed to be longer than the journey to the park and that was probably attributed to the fact that Alec was in a downtrodden mood now, instead of a jumpy, bouncy bundle of pure joyous energy. It really did put a damper on things.

As soon as they were back inside, Magnus shed his snowy jacket in the doorway and kicked off his snow-covered boots before padding over to the couch and grabbing a thick, fleece blanket off the back of it to wrap around himself. Alec followed suit once his own snowy clothes were discarded. Sitting on the couch next to Magnus, he finally spoke, breaking the silence that had engulfed the journey home. "Erm, Magnus…" he muttered not looking at his second half. "I really am sorry for making you fall. I was just so happy about the snowman and that I got you to help with it..."

Looking at Alec and feeling dreadfully guilty for how he was acting, Magnus opened up his arms for Alec to crawl between and hug him. "It's fine, love, really."

Alec crawled into Magnus's open arms and snuggled close to him wrapping his arms around Magnus's torso, just now noticing that he was shivering. "If you're sure…" he mumbled into Magnus's shirt.

"Positive, darling," Magnus said with a smile and placed a kiss on top of Alec's head. Then he frowned. "You're shivering."

"I'm just a little cold," Alec replied quickly so Magnus wouldn't worry. "You're really warm…"

Magnus had to chuckle. He might have been making his magic heat him up from the adventure out in the snow. He was also happy that he could warm Alec up again. "Well, I do have the blanket," he said to mask the fact that he was using magic.

"Now I do too," Alec pointed out since it had also wrapped around him when Magnus hugged him close.

Magnus nodded and pulled Alec even closer so as to warm him up quicker. His mind supplied him with the fact that he'd get Alec warmed up and not shivering quicker if they were both naked, but he didn't let that thought take over. Now was really not the time. Nor was he a fan of being naked in the middle of winter, even if he_was_inside with a heater.

Gradually, Alec stopped shivering as his body temperature rose to a normal level again and he looked up at Magnus. "I'm still sorry about the snow incident."

Magnus almost rolled his eyes. "Just let it go, love. I'm not upset about it anymore." Alec frowned and looked down again. "Anymore…" he muttered. "Which means you were upset about it at the time…"

Magnus sighed this time. "It's not a big deal. I just don't like the snow so I was a little miffed. I'm over it not, though, so you should stop worrying about it."

Alec pouted and opened his mouth to reveal his plan to Magnus so that the warlock would understand why he was so upset. "But, I just wanted to show you that the snow wasn't bad or that winter wasn't bad. And I just made it worse," he complained. "Because you fell in the snow and got all covered in it and it made your spikes droop."

The only part of the explanation that registered to Magnus, though, was that his spikes were drooping and he freed one hand from around Alec to reach up to his hair, eyes widening. That treacherous snow had ruined his hair! He grumbled under his breath for a second before Alec's voice brought him back to reality again.

"Magnus…?" Alec ventured carefully. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes, that the snow ruined my precious hair!" Magnus was still rather indignant.

"I meant about trying to make you see that winter wasn't so bad..." Alec stated trying not to roll his eyes at Magnus's behavior.

"Oh." Magnus was quiet for a second. "Well, I don't hate it with a fiery, burning passion anymore."

"You don't?" Alec asked. "And why is that?"

Magnus smiled lovingly at Alec who was looking up at him again. "Because, Alexander, I could never hate something that makes you so happy," he explained. "Yes, I still dislike it, but it makes you so happy that I can't hate it. I love seeing that smile spread across your face when you see snow or how you practically bounce with energy when you go outside in it. I have yet to find anything else that makes you so happy, and for that I can't hate winter anymore."

Alec looked at him open-mouth for a second. His plan had…partially worked! "You don't hate it anymore…because I love it?" he asked slowly just to clarify.

Magnus nodded. "Exactly," he replied with a grin. "I don't hate it because you love it. And I love you."

Alec grinned with him. "I love you too."

And with that, Alec decided that today had been a success. He had built his six foot tall snowman finally and had made Magnus dislike winter a little less. Definitely a good day by anyone's standards.

**And so there's that. I wrote this in a day. I'm proud of myself. Especially since I don't know anything about snow and my friend who does said I did a good job at writing about it. Screw living in Texas, bro. Anyway, until next time, review dearies.**


	11. Makeover

**I've updated so much this month. Aren't y'all just so happy? Not as long as the last one, but still lengthy. Enjoy~**

**Makeover**

"Alec, darling, I love you and everything," Magnus said practically out of nowhere one day, "But you know what would make me love you even more?"

Alec looked at his boyfriend, confusing pulling his eyebrows together. He was honestly scared to find out the answer to the question, but asked anyway. "What, Magnus?"

Magnus smiled innocently at him. Or well, as innocently as Magnus Bane is capable of smiling. "It would make me love you soooo much if you would let me dress you up, just for one day so I can see what you look like outside of those adorable, ratty sweaters you're so fond of. And then I would never bother you about it again. Unless of course you ended up liking it. Then we could make it more permanent." He stopped for a moment and made a thoughtful face. "Unless of course that brought more attention to you from people that weren't me, then there would be a few issues…"

Alec just stared at him for a moment. "No one's going to notice me. No one ever has. Glamour runes, remember?"

He wasn't sure why he was encouraging Magnus this time, having turned it down vehemently every other time the warlock had tried, but he was. Maybe it was because Alec was tired of the argument and just wanted to give in once to prevent it from ever happening again. Or maybe it was because he was curious of how he would look at the end. Nice clothes made Magnus look _amazing_even if they were a little strange, so maybe for once Alec could look amazing too and he wouldn't feel so inferior standing next to the love of his life. Yeah, that was the reason. Although, as a Shadowhunter he wouldn't be able to maintain a fancy look. There was too much blood and guts involved in his line of work and as basically an amateur he had no hopes of keeping his clothes spotless or unwrinkled sometimes.

"Does this mean you're agreeing to let me do it for once?" Magnus said happily, pulling Alec out of his thoughts and back to reality.

Sighing and knowing he was unleashing a demon upon him, Alec nodded. "Yes, Magnus, I'm agreeing to let you for once."

Squealing like a teenage girl, Magnus jumped up from the couch, pulling Alec with him by the arm. "This is so wonderful," he gushed. "First we're going to do something about that mop on your head that you call hair. I mean, you're adorable with it all over the place like that, but it covers your beautiful eyes way too much. So that needs remedied. And then we'll do something about your wardrobe. How do you feel about some nice, mute colors instead of all dark for once? I think you'd look stunning…"

Magnus just went on and on and Alec felt his head start to spin as he tried to listen to it all. Ultimately, he just tuned it out and nodded along without actually catching a word of it. All he knew was that this was going to be a long, long day and that he would have to use every ounce of patience he possessed to endure it.

Once Magnus has successfully gotten the both of them into the bedroom and kicked Chairman Meow out ("You are not allowed to see my Alec naked," Magnus had said to the small kitten), Alec was pushed almost harshly into the chair that set in front of the large vanity in the room.

He turned his head as Magnus bustled around the room behind him, dread pooling into a pit in his stomach. Why had he agreed to this again? He wasn't entirely sure that his earlier reasoning still stood any ground against this anymore.

There was a loud "Aha!" behind him and then Alec found himself spun around in the chair to face away from the mirror. The new sight before him was Magnus, who had in the time he'd been searching the room had summoned a small table on which sat several different types of supplies that one might find in a hair salon. Why did Magnus even have those? Couldn't he just do any hair styling with magic? Alec suddenly feared for the safety of his eyes.

Grinning from ear to ear and joy lighting up his eyes, Magnus brandished a pair of scissors in front of Alec. "Now let's see…" he muttered mostly to himself. "Where to start…?"

And then he set to work. All Alec was aware of then was the snip of scissors and the feeling of his hair being manipulated to where Magnus wanted it as the warlock set to work on the black locks. The Shadowhunter was worried about the outcome with as quickly as Magnus was cutting his hair away, but at the same time he had to trust Magnus, because the other male had scissors and you should always trust the person with scissors lest they cut something wrong on purpose in revenge.

Once Magnus had cut the hair to his satisfaction, he made a thoughtful face. Then he grabbed some other stuff that Alec was unable to identify and began working it into the hair. Alec was even more terrified now. What if Magnus spiked it up like his usually hair style? Alec was pretty sure that he couldn't pull that off no matter how hard he tried. His eyes were the wrong shape. Wait, where the hell had that thought come from? He was definitely spending too much time with Magnus in front of his fashion shows…

Alec sighed without intending to and Magnus's hands still in his hair. "Love?" the warlock questioned as he looked down to Alec's face.

"I'm fine, just thinking. Continue on with whatever you were doing," Alec answered looking up apologetically through his now noticeably shorter bangs.

"Okay!" Magnus chirped and set to work again.

When he was finally finished, Magnus spun the chair again so Alec could see in the mirror. And what Alec saw shocked him into silence, not that he'd been speaking to begin with. But now he definitely wasn't. He just stared at his reflection. There was no way that person was him. It just couldn't be possible.

His hair had been shortened to a reasonable length and was mostly out of his eyes with just a small bit brushing the top of his eyelashes instead of falling passed them like his bangs used to. And it actually looked it'd had a comb run through it even though Alec was pretty sure Magnus hadn't touched a comb. He chalked it up to magic being used for a moment. Regardless, he was in shock of his appearance. If he hadn't still been in the same ratty, old sweater that he had been wearing when he'd gone to Magnus's, Alec wouldn't have believe it was himself.

"Holy shit…" he muttered leaning closer to the mirror and barely noticing Magnus smirking over his shoulder.

"Don't you wish you'd let me do this sooner?" Magnus asked sounding rather smug about things.

Alec shook his head in the negative but was still looking at himself. "No, because then I wouldn't be freaking out about it now," was his explanation.

Magnus looked confused for a moment before shaking his head. "Time to fix up your wardrobe," he announced.

Then he pulled Alec up from the vanity chair and pulled him toward the closet. Once they were inside (it was a walk-in obviously. A regular closet would have never housed Magnus's clothes properly) Alec was pushing into another chair while Magnus flittered around the different racks of clothes. The younger male had no idea what his boyfriend was doing since they weren't the same size, but he let it go, figuring it'd become clear to him in time if he was patience. And a few moments later, his patience was rewarded. Magnus stopped poking through his own clothes and looked at Alec who raised an eyebrow. With a snap of his long fingers, Magnus had a set of clothes on hangers between them. "Put these on," he ordered, shoving Alec to a curtained area that had also just appeared in the closet

Magnus had no aversion to seeing Alec naked, but he knew Alec well enough to know that the Shadowhunter wasn't ready to change in front of him yet. They hadn't progressed that far into their relationship yet.

Alec, who had nearly had enough with being shoved around, yelped as he nearly fell into the wall at the back of the changing area. Magnus was way too eager and excited about this. Looking at the hangers that had been shoved into his hand, Alec couldn't decide whether to frown or not. They looked simple enough but not something he would normally pick out for himself. Only Magnus…. But, he was pleased to note that none of the articles were outrageously colored like what Magnus normally wore. They were dark with a little bit of light color here and there. Alec supposed he could live with it long enough to humor Magnus.

Changing as quickly as he could, Alec poked his head out of the curtain to see Magnus sitting on the chair he'd previously occupied, examining his nails with obvious impatience on his face. Alec cleared his throat to get his attention. Magnus looked up with a grin. "Well? Lemme see!" he demanded standing up and looking ready to pull Alec forcibly from the changing room.

Sighing quietly, Alec stepped out completely from behind the curtain. Nodding approvingly, Magnus smiled and walked over to pull Alec into an embrace. "You look absolutely stunning, love," he said.

"Do you have a mirror in here?" Alec asked. "Can I see now?"

Magnus snorted out a laugh. "Of course I have a mirror in here!" he exclaimed and then pulled Alec a short ways to a full length mirror. What Alec saw shocked him even more than the hair had. He almost…looked attractive.

After looking for a moment, he decided that absolutely couldn't be him. There was no possible way for that to be true. He looked too nice, too put together. Not possible. Nope.

There was no way that the person decked out in black jeans that were tight but also sort of loose, hugging in all the right places to make Alec's legs look amazing, and the dark blue button up, collared shirt with the light blue designs running through it making his eyes pop out even more than usual. With the new haircut he really did look more attractive than he ever had before. The fact that he was barefoot sort of detracted from the look but neither Alec nor Magnus really cared.

"Do you like it?" Magnus said trying not to sound smug about the whole ordeal.

Alec nodded. "It's….different….and nice. But also a lot more simple than I thought you'd pick out."

Magnus smiled. "I know you well enough to know that you'd never like something difficult or ostentatious or skin tight."

Alec turned around, facing Magnus and away from the mirror and smiled at him. "If I wasn't a Shadowhunter, I would keep this look," he announced. "I mean, I love my sweaters, but…there's something about how much more put together I look that I sort of like."

Magnus grinned. His mission had been accomplished. All he'd wanted Alec to do was learn to appreciate his appearance even for a moment. "What does being a Shadowhunter have to do with anything?"

"It'd get messy if I wore it when I was working…." Alec muttered.

"You could just save it for when you're here? I'm not sure I want to share your attractiveness with the world anyway. Although, I wouldn't be opposed to you wearing nice things when we go on dates…" Magnus went off into his own little imagined world for a moment before being drawn back by Alec literally snapping in his face.

"Pay attention," Alec berated him lightly. "As much as that would be nice….I just don't think it would work out very well."

Magnus frowned, but had to agree that Alec did sort of have a point. The boy was much too altruistic and protective of his siblings to not get dirtied up on even the simplest of Shadowhunter assignments. With a sad snap of his fingers, the clothes Alec was wearing were replaced with Alec's original clothes. "It was nice while it lasted, and I will get you dressed up again someday," Magnus vowed. And he'd left the hair anyway. There was no harm in that. Besides, he liked getting to see Alec's eyes even more than he already did.

**Okay, so there's that. Now, I have one thing to say. For the last two updates I've only gotten two reviews on each (one from mudkipluvr4ever and one from Holly-Anne Rivers, you both rock!). So, until I get at least three I am withholding the next update. Yes, I know that's mean, but hey. Chapters 1-8 got a fair number of reviews, so I just want the same for the rest. Sorry if that makes me sound bitchy. I just want my reward for all the work I put into this.**


	12. Impossible

**Yeah, this still isn't part two of Relax. I'll get to it. I promise. But before I write it I wanted to propose something to you guys. I was going over the idea of it possible containing my first ever attempt at smutty writing. But, I want to know what y'all think first. Like, is anyone against the idea? Or would anyone be sad if I tried and backed out? Or do you guys just want part two enough that you don't care either way? **

**Impossible**

Nothing had ever been impossible in Magnus Bane's book. He could do just about anything and everything he wanted. He got basically everything he desired, even if that desire was just some fleeting thought. Nothing was impossible. Or, so he thought.

There was one thing that Magnus would always find impossible and there would be several subcategories placed under that as well, so in reality there were several things that were impossible to him. But, the main, top category was simply Alexander Lightwood.

Magnus had no idea why he put up with the boy sometimes. Oh wait, he loved him. That's right. Love does make people do crazy things after all. And if love meant putting up with the most impossible Nephilim that possibly ever existed…actually scratch that. Will Herondale was the most impossible to ever deal with and there wasn't even love there. Alec was a close second on some days, though.

Regardless, Magnus put up with Alec and honestly he usually loved every minute of it. There were some times when he just wanted to rip his hair out and tell Alec to stop being so damn ridiculous, but he refrained. It wouldn't serve to do anything but cripple.

But if he could just get Alec to see how incredibly special he is, then maybe Magnus wouldn't want to pull out his hair so often. He was rather fond of his hair after all. But, Alec refused to believe Magnus, no matter how many compliments or how much praise was thrown his way. And Magnus was really starting to believe that he'd never win. That wasn't something that _the_Magnus Bane handled well; he hated to lose at anything.

"I just don't see why you refuse to believe me," Magnus was saying in the same argument that happened almost daily now.

Alec sighed with what was nearly frustration, but he reined the emotion in. Magnus was already agitated enough without him adding to it even more by displaying his obvious distaste about the subject at hand. Honestly though, why didn't Magnus just give it up? Alec wasn't special and he was never going to accept that he was. It was a losing battle for the warlock.

"I refuse to believe you," Alec stated working to keep his tone calm and neutral, "because it's obviously not true. I'm average at best and you make me out to be this…this….you make me out to be something that I'm not and something that I'll never be. I'm just not…"

Alec finished his tiny outburst rather lamely with a small shrug, casting his gaze down to the carpet beneath his feet. He completely didn't understand why Magnus was so insistent on trying to make him believe a lie. He also failed to realize that it wasn't a lie to Magnus and that was why he was so persistent on getting Alec to believe him.

Magnus had tried every way he could think of to get Alec to believe him even if it was just once or even for just a short second. He'd stop if he just succeeded one time, no matter how long or short that time was. It made him feel like a failure of a boyfriend sometimes; how awful was he that he couldn't even make the person who meant the world to him feel like he was something more than average?

"You're everything I always say you are, Alexander," Magnus said for what felt like the millionth time, although it held less conviction that the first few times he'd said. He was getting so tired of this argument. It was never-ending. "I just wish you could see that. Or that you could see what I see when I look at you. Don't you think you have to be some sort of special to catch _my_attention?"

Magnus wasn't trying to sound arrogant (although he was rather arrogant sometimes). He was really just trying to get Alec to see that there was something about him that caught the eye of possibly the most colorful person in the world. Magnus was eight hundred years old for crying out loud and he'd pretty much seen it all. So surely Alec had to see that he was something different to catch Magnus's eye and hold him there so firmly and for so long. Magnus had fall _head__over__heels_for this boy and he would make him see why if it killed him.

Alec looked up from the floor even though he avoided looking in the warlock's eyes. He knew he'd fold if he saw the expression in them and he didn't want to subject himself to that. Alec still solidly believed that he wasn't special. However, he did have to admit that Magnus's statement held…_some_merit. "You just like my eyes," he muttered. "That's all…"

Said eyes flickered to Magnus's face for the briefest of seconds before falling again. Magnus just stared at Alec for a moment. "You can't honestly believe that I just like you for your eyes. Yes, I love and adore them because they are beautiful, but _you_ as a whole is what I love the most."

Seriously, why was he still trying? This was impossible. Alec was probably too stubborn; he rivaled Magnus in terms of being stubborn and that was saying something. Oh yeah, that love thing kept him trying.

Sick of how Alec refused to look directly at him, Magnus grabbed the boy's chin gently and titled his head so that their eyes met. Alec knew he was about to lose the fight when he saw the amount of emotion in Magnus's eyes and how much Magnus wanted him to believe his words. Alec could have drowned with how deep the emotion and want ran, but he tried to keep himself afloat.

"You are special, Alexander Lightwood," Magnus said in the most serious voice Alec had ever heard him use. "I love you and you are special and amazing and so many other things. I just wish you would believe me."

The sadness that crept into those catlike eyes at the last sentence had Alec's resolve crumbling within seconds. "Okay," he relented. "I'm special. To you."

That was as far as he could give at the moment. He could handle being special to Magnus. In fact, the thought almost made him smile but Alec had to stay serious right now. Magnus, however, let a tiny smile creep onto his face. It wasn't perfect, but he'd take it. And with that he leaned in and kissed Alec with as much love as he could muster up in a kiss without taking things too far.

Maybe this whole thing wasn't as impossible as he'd thought…

**I'm sorry this is shorter than the last two, and, um, I feel like I was a bit whiny last chapter because of the review thing and you guys totally made my freaking day. SEVEN reviews. I could have cried, seriously. Also, that number is nearing 50 total, so here's a proposition for y'all. **

**Reviewer number fifty will get either a say in one of the chapters for this (like they tell me what they want to see and I write it) or they will get a one-shot separate of this which can be outside of this particular pairing or fandom (within the fact that I know the fandom they want). I'll probably do this for every 50 reviews so yeah...**


	13. Finally

**Hi. College decided to eat my muse…again. I have finals next week and should be studying right now. Instead, I'm updating. Priorities, right? I'm sorry for continuously disappearing. But, look what I have for you this time! Enjoy~**

**Finally**

It had been a week and Magnus had been patient. Well, he'd been as patient as a sparkly warlock who really wants something can be. To be completely honest, that isn't very patient at all. But he tried and that's what matters. He had mostly just been waiting for Alec to let his guard down again before pouncing. And pounce he would.

The devious smirk that had etched its way onto his face was proof of that. If Alec were to notice, he would definitely be worried. But, as it was, Alec wasn't even in the same room as Magnus was at the moment so he was safe from the smirk.

….For now.

Magnus had several plans to change that. Alec was surely not safe from it when he decided to appear again. He had to be patient for a little while longer, though. Just until the sound of the shower running turned off and Alec walked out of the bathroom. That'd be probably ten minutes tops. Alec didn't take long showers after all. Magnus hoped his master plan could wait for ten more minutes and he didn't end up just standing and waltzing his glittery ass into the bathroom with his very naked boyfriend and putting it into action. He wasn't sure if Alec would ever forgive him if that did happen. The Shadowhunter had so many insecurities and…little quirks. They made Magnus mentally sigh so very often. But, he respected them and he would go slowly to work passed as many of them as he could.

Like, there was this one habit Alec had of trying to literally run away sometimes when Magnus was being really affectionate. That was probably cause from years of hiding his true self and Magnus was slowly working it so that Alec was relaxed when he did that and didn't try to bolt like a cornered animal.

Lost in his thoughts that he was, Magnus didn't notice that his ten minutes had since passed and Alec was now in the room with him, hair dripping slightly with… no shirt on. That was sort of new. Magnus wasn't complaining, though. He actually figured that Alec just hadn't noticed him in the room since he was being unnaturally quiet for once.

"Hey, Alec," he said after a moment of staring at his boyfriend bare chest, which caused the other male to jump startled. So Alec really hadn't noticed him; Magnus briefly internally applauded himself for his ninja skills.

The young Nephilim turned his attention to the warlock. "Yes, Magnus?" he asked looking ready to bolt like that cornered animal but obviously forcing himself not to. It made Magnus proud of him for a moment before he got down to business.

"You still haven't given me an answer for my question a week ago," he stated quite simply. Not that he hadn't developed an idea for what the answer might be over the course of the week. He had a _very_good idea actually. But it was worth watching Alec blush and stutter and squirm to make the boy admit it out loud.

"Well, I, erm…" Alec said his face nearly matching the coloring of a tomato. A split second later he composed himself, once again impressing Magnus. "I told you that I wasn't going to tell you."

Magnus felt a smile working its way onto his face, replacing the faded smirk from before. "No," he replied. "You said you didn't know what you were thinking. That's different than saying you just wouldn't tell me. That means you _do _have an answer."

Alec's face, if it was at all possible, seemed to grow even redder; Magnus's smile grew ever so slightly wider.

"Just tell me," he coaxed. "It will make everything so much less painful for you. No matter how embarrassing it is, I promise I won't judge you for it." And Magnus tried to be good for keeping his promises.

Alec just shook his head, trying to calm the color in his face and failing quite spectacularly. Whatever it was that was on his mind was something big, and Magnus just had to know what it was. He would also like to know if he was right in his guessing or not, and by the looks of it right now he probably was. That made him slightly happy, although he wished Alec would just _tell__him._ It wasn't that big a deal.

"Alexander," Magnus said with a stern tone that made Alec look away again as if he were a scolded child.

"I just….thought that maybe…" he started but trailing off again.

Magnus gave a huff and said in a tone that told Alec to continue his sentence, "You thought?"

"Well, it's just the two of us…and I thought that maybe…." Alec stopped again absolutely mortified at his thoughts. But he picked it up again without more prodding. "Well, I thought…ya know..." And completed the pitiful statement with a shrug.

Ah, Magnus thought to himself, he had been right. "That's all?" he asked.

Alec nodded looking down at the floor. "That's all."

And Magnus chuckled. "That's nothing to get so worked up for. Unless you thought I'd be mad that you thought of my intentions that way?" He raised an eyebrow. Alec's face just got darker and it made Magnus wonder if any of the rest of his body was getting any blood due to most of it apparently being in Alec's face at the moment.

"Maybe…" Alec muttered.

Magnus had to sigh. His little Shadowhunter was so dense sometimes. "I'm not mad, darling," he said. "And, honestly, I wouldn't mind _that _happening while no one is around, but I'm not going to shove it at you."

"I know," Alec mumbled still looking at the floor. He felt very similar to a child at the moment, thinking foolish things and being reprimanded for them, even though that wasn't what Magnus was doing. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Magnus stated moving across the room to wrap his arms around Alec, despite betting it would make Alec shove him away as the younger male still wasn't wearing a shirt.

Alec didn't push him away, though, and for that Magnus was grateful.

**That wasn't nearly as exciting as I had intended originally, but it's nearly 4 in the morning and I wanted to get this to you before it was a whole month without hearing a word and stuff, so yeah. Also, reviewer number 50 was…. ForeverForNow . You have until my next update (and who knows when that'll be, best be quick about it) to inform me what you would like for the prize or it will be transferred to the next signed reviewer in line.**

**SOMEONE BREAK THE TIE IN MY POLL.**


	14. Attention

**I apologize for the length of this particular entry and for the length of time you guys had to wait for something so short. I've been feeling kind of down and depressed and stuff lately and haven't had much motivation to write anything, but I figure you all deserved an update in light of all the holidays going on so I managed this. Hope you like it. **

**Attention**

Alec wasn't a fan of being the center of attention, sure, but he did like getting some attention sometimes. He especially liked getting attention from Magnus.

"I can't do this anymore, Magnus."

Magnus looked over from the show he'd been intently focused on watching. "Can't do what anymore?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"This." Alec motioned vaguely with his hand.

"You'll have to clarify, darling. I don't speak flailing hand gestures," Magnus replied turning his attention away again.

Alec groaned and had to consciously prevent himself from facepalming. "You know exactly what I meant Magnus Bane, so stop pretending to be clueless." He probably sounded more annoyed than angry, although he was trying to sound angry.

Magnus sighed but didn't remove his attention from the television again. "I'm not acting clueless," he said with a frown. "You're just being overly vague. Again, by the way. Can't you ever just get to the point?"

"You know what the point is."

"No, I don't." Magnus was adamant. "Or I wouldn't be asking you to tell me what it is."

"That's because you're being uncharacteristically stupid," Alec practically growled in annoyance. "And if you'd stop watching that ridiculous show for longer than a commercial break maybe we'd be getting somewhere." That said, Alec picked up the remote and turned the TV off.

Magnus turned to look at the Nephilim with narrowed eyes before snapping his fingers and turning the show back on. Alec just turned it off again looking at Magnus with a determination set in his eyes that wasn't normally there.

"You are going to listen to me and until you do you are not allowed to turn the TV back on," he stated as firmly as he could manage. Although, really, what sort of hold did a teenaged Shadowhunter have over what a centuries old warlock did?

"Oh, really?" Magnus questioned raising both one of his eyebrows and his hand to snap his fingers again. "Because, I beg to differ." And the TV and show were both back on. Magnus looked away from Alec. "Ugh, you made me miss the best part!"

"You are unbelievable!" Alec cried loud enough that it was nearly a shout.

"And you are incapable of being quiet for an hour," Magnus snapped back. "Shush. This only has ten minutes left."

Alec just looked at him incredulously.

When the show was over ten minutes later, Magnus calmly turned the TV off and looked at Alec. "Now, you were saying?" he asked pleasantly.

"I can't do this anymore," Alec replied with a shake of his head. "I can't sit here with you not even a foot away from me ignoring me like I don't exist. I get that you like your shows, I really do, but we don't get to see each other enough lately and…" He trailed off then not wanting to put all of his thoughts into words. They would only serve to make him sound pathetic. Well, even more pathetic than he probably already did. The whiny teenager, that was him right now.

Magnus's expression fell into a frown. "Alec…" he started as if trying to find some excuse but a shake of Alec's head silenced him.

"Just…just hold me?" It came out as a questioning plea rather than a demand and Alec spoke so quietly Magnus nearly didn't catch it.

Once the words had processed through his mind, Magnus immediately reached out and pulled Alec to him while shifting to a position where they could both be comfortable. Alec buried his face in the fabric of Magnus's shirt. "Better?"

Alec nodded with a smile and said, "Much."

**More votes for my poll would make me happy.**

**Funny how this was almost an angst, cliche, breakup one. Bet you're glad it's not. Reviews would make me feel so much better. Until next time!**


	15. Sleep

**I AM SO SORRY. ****I have not died, I have not abandoned LSOH. I have been trying to improve my school GPA and my mental/emotional health. **

**I'm really sorry that this is so short, especially after making you guys wait for so long to get it. I just...I don't know. I'm losing my energy for this series. I'll keep writing this, up until probably 25 or something. Maybe the 50 that I have now changed the summary to. We'll see.**

**This little thing below was inspired just tonight by my sleeping roommate who was snoring. So, thank her for this getting updated tonight.**

**ALSO, I'm going to probably start posting new stories soon, so look out for those. You might see a fandom you like or something. **

**I'm done wasting your time now. ENJOY!**

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><p>It wasn't that the ceiling wasn't interesting. It was a very nice, very interesting ceiling. Magnus had designed it himself after all. But, he did not want to spend his night awake, staring at the thing. Unfortunately, he was stuck doing just that.<p>

Now, why was he staring, wide awake at the ceiling? That's simple.

At some point during the night, Alec, who was staying over for once, had rolled over and started to snore in a very loud, obnoxious way. Normally, Magnus would have shaken him awake immediately, but he just didn't have the heart to this time. Alec had looked so exhausted earlier than he would suffer rather than ruin such an obviously deep sleep.

So, at the ceiling Magnus stared, occasionally changing something about it to keep it interesting. Right now it was a moving mirror image of an aurora borealis.

This changing and staring lasted for at least another hour, with Magnus's eyes growing so heavy that he hoped maybe he would just pass out soon with no luck. Then the snoring stopped. Only to be replaced by a rather loud thump. Turning his head, Magnus saw that Alec had rolled off the bed. Not sure whether to be concerned, amused, or relieved Magnus moved to peek over the edge of the bed and was greeted with Alec's drowsy stare.

"Are you okay?"

"I…think so…" Alec muttered while blinking and sitting up slowly. "What time is it?"

Magnus moved from the edge of the bed and turned his head to look at the nearest clock. "Nearly two."

Alec climbed back on the bed and curled up where he had previously been. "So, why are you awake?"

"Couldn't sleep," Magnus lied. He didn't want to make Alec feel bad about the snoring when Alec had been so tired because Alec would just ask why he hadn't woken him up to stop it.

"Oh…" Alec muttered. "Why didn't you wake me up? It couldn't have been very interesting lying awake alone like that. I would have stayed up until you were ready to sleep, too."

Well there went that plan.

"You were really tired. It would have been wrong of me to keep you up just because I couldn't sleep," Magnus replied without missing a beat.

"It would have been fine…."

"No, Alexander. Now go back to sleep. You still sound tired."

Alec shook his head slightly, stopping face down in the pillow. Magnus rolled his eyes. He had a feeling that if Alec didn't move he'd be out in under a minute.

Low and behold, a couple of minutes later, Alec's breathing had evened out in that way it does when the person is sleeping. And there was no snoring this time.

Smiling quite contently to himself, Magnus laid back where he had been, pulled Alec into his arms, and closed his own eyes. Maybe now he'd be able to fall asleep as well. Soon enough, he had indeed drifted off into sleep and the two laid there for the rest of the night until the light of the morning sun woke them up again.


	16. Allergies

**Hi, I promise I haven't died or abandoned this or anything of that nature. I just...didn't have motivation for it. See, I've been cowriting Kingdom Hearts fics with a friend of mine and they've sort of taken over my brain. But, I will still update this randomly. I'm not going to stop forever. It just might be three or four in between them and they will probably be super short. I'm sorry. Maybe once the next book comes out, my drive will come back some and I'll be able to put out more of these at a quicker pace. **

**Anyway, enough of me talk. Read away! **

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><p>The day was perfect. The sun was shining, the temperature was a solid 70 degrees, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Nothing could go wrong.<p>

Or so they thought.

Apparently, Magnus had underestimated Alec's allergies. As soon as the couple had settled down in the park, Alec started sneezing like a madman. They had sat too close to a plant he was allergic to. Even after they moved away, Alec continued to sneeze.

"Do you just want to go back inside?" Magnus asked, looking at Alec as the Nephilim sneezed for probably the hundredth time.

"N –_achoo_- No. We can stay –_achoo_- out. It's fine."

Magnus looked at him for a moment with narrowed eyes. "You look miserable. We're going in."

Alec shook his head, sneezing too much to properly form words. Rolling his eyes at his boyfriend's stubbornness, Magnus stood up, holding his hand out for Alec to take. Frowning as much as a sneezing person could, Alec took the hand, getting to his feet. "I still –_achoo_- say that I'm f –_achoo - _fine."

"March, mister," Magnus pointed in the direction they'd come from not much earlier.

Alec started walking, stopping every now and then to sneeze. Eventually, they made it back to the apartment, but Alec's sneezes hadn't stopped, or even slowed down any.

"Strip. I think some of the pollen got on your clothes," Magnus said as he noticed the predicament.

Obediently, Alec pulled his shirt over his head, knowing from experience that Magnus was probably right. It'd happened when he was a kid. His pants followed, leaving the boy in his boxers. The sneezing slowed down, but still didn't stop.

Frowning at the situation, Magnus declared, "Go shower, I'll get you something to wear when you get out. Maybe it'll stop then."

"Okay," Alec muttered, sniffling some and sneezing again before wandering off to the bathroom.

While Alec was washing off, Magnus went to the bedroom to find clean, pollen-free clothes for Alec. He also figured he should change, just in case some were on his clothes, too. Magnus didn't want to trigger another sneezing fit after they finally managed to stop the current one.

Fifteen minutes later, Alec emerged from the bathroom with dripping hair, wearing only a towel. He pulled on the new, clean clothes, noticing vaguely that Magnus had also changed.

"Done sneezing?" Magnus asked.

"I think so," Alec replied, sniffling a little. He still felt a little sneezy, but the actual sneezing had stopped.

"Good."

"Yeah. I hate that I have allergies. I'm really sorry."

"Don't be sorry, love. It's not something that you can really control."

"Still…I ruined the day."

"Not ruined. We can still spend time together here."

Alec frowned. "Okay…"

Magnus smiled and kissed him, wrapping his arms around the Shadowhunter's waist. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

The two relocated to the living room. Free from sneezing and allergies and other interruptions, they spent the rest of the day happily together.


	17. Nightmare

**Good morning/afternoon/night! This is a slightly faster update than my last few, which is good. I would like to credit City of Lost Souls for giving me the kick in the ass that I needed, but it didn't really help me want to write more. If anything, it made me want to write this less for a little while. If you've read it, you can probably guess why. If you haven't... you'll get there eventually! **

**This isn't exactly spoilery, but if you squint really hard you might be able to dredge some kind of spoiler from it. It didn't go how I originally intended it to go, that's for sure. But I like it nonetheless. Alec, unfortunately, does not make an appearance in this. I hope you like it anyway.**

**I just wanted to note that I may or may not be starting to do some AU one-shots in this. So far, I've managed to keep them strictly to the canon world, but that's getting harder and harder to do. I don't really want to do AU anythings for this, but it might come down to that or not finishing this. I'd rather finish it. We'll see, I guess.**

**Just so you know, I am on summer vacation! This might mean I have more time to write and stuff, but I'm not going to promise anything. I'm chronically lazy, even more in the summer. That also means this has been going for almost a year now, and that's the longest I've stuck with anything. I'm proud of myself and of this fic.**

**Anyway, I've kept you lovely lot for long enough. Please read and enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Nightmare<strong>

There was no worse feeling than waking up terrified; waking up shaking so hard it was like he'd just spent an hour outside in the winter without a coat. He had so many causes for bad dreams in his lifetime, but, strangely enough, this new, recurring nightmare wasn't even something that had ever happened.

After facing countless dangerous obstacles and nearly dying several times, he figured that something like this wouldn't get to him. It… it wasn't even realistic. There was no way anything like it could ever possibly happen.

But there it was, night after night, the images pouring into his mind as he slept, no matter how exhausted he was when he finally made it to bed. It always started out simple enough, happy enough…. However, shortly after, everything started to chip away piece by piece. Time moved strangely, stretching into weeks and months in the dreamland, even though only a few short hours had elapsed in the real world. The end of the dream was the worst part of it all.

In comparison to the rest of the dream, the end wasn't even majorly catastrophic. The only bad part of the whole ordeal was the overwhelming ache in his heart when he finally woke up. It really sucked to wake up every day feeling like his heart had been pummeled during the night by an unseen force lurking in the dark shadows of his bedroom.

He would have much preferred actually getting hit than facing the unyielding pain day after day. At least physical injury faded quickly. This emotional pain, false as it was, often stayed with him throughout the day, unless he found a decent way to distract himself from it.

When he woke up early on in the night, he could usually lull himself back to sleep after calming himself down again and miraculously managing to ignore the pained heart in his chest. All he had to do was stretch out in his bed, reassuring himself that it was just a dream, and by no means was it real or would it ever be real. If he could manage that, he would drift off again, with a small, fleeting hope that it wouldn't occur twice in one night. He still had work to do during the day, and no one would care if he was sleep deprived. If he messed up, it would only cost him.

Golden green cat eyes stared up at the ceiling. It had been months, and the dream persisted. In the beginning, Magnus had hoped that, maybe, just maybe, he'd become desensitized over time, since the dream never changed. As time passed, though, there was still always that horrible, hollow ache when he woke up. Nothing he did made the dream go away, and the pain never faded.

Eventually, he'd just accepted that he probably wasn't ever going to rid himself of the nightmare that had become a regular, nightly visitor. He felt almost pathetic for giving up so quickly, but there were no other viable options for him to choose from. He couldn't very well just stay up every night for the rest of his life. He got cranky as hell when he was sleepy, and no one needed or wanted to be around a cranky Magnus. He would have to try to get as much sleep as he could every night and just deal with things, even though it frustrated him not being able to do anything more effective.

Magnus Bane did not run away with his tail between his legs, like some dog that had been kicked around too many times.

Life continued on in the same manner for a few more months, but one night, things finally changed. The dream was suddenly gone. As quickly as it had shown up, it disappeared. Oddly enough, it was the same night that those almost haunting blue eyes from the dream had shown up in Magnus's life for real, and unfortunately, there was no fighting what was meant to happen.

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><p><strong>Review? If you've read CoLS, let me know what you thought. I'd love to hear your opinions. If you haven't, give me some ideas for anything you want to see written in this for the canon world? Hell, you can do that even if you have read it. I just want to hear from you guys. Your voice might be the reason this thing stays alive.<strong>


	18. Tears

**Um, hi. I'd like to start by saying that I'm quite obviously not dead. **

**I know, I know. I haven't updated since like May, but I have reasons!**

** See, my life took a really unexpected twist and I don't really have much internet at home with which to write and upload now. That's a major influence on my writing and uploading. The only reason the abundance of Kingdom Hearts fics get updated is because my co-author on those logs on and updates them. So yeah... **

**The second reason is definitely school. I messed up big time last year and failed my entire second semester. This year I have to pull everything up or I'm screwed basically. So I've been focusing on school and such the last couple of weeks.**

**But don't you love my muse? It attacked me earlier, which it only seems to do when I'm stressed or majorly upset or whatever lately. I can't write our babies all happy anymore. CoLS killed it. It hurts too much. That's why these have been sad and feelsy. **

**Anyway, um, here's a new one. I hope you like it. Sorry for the epic long wait. I know it's kind of short, but at least it's something? **

**I'll try to get this back on a happy track soon and maybe write more of it. I think I really just need to kickstart my Malecmobile again. It's puttering along now, but I want it racing down the street again.**

**I'm done talking now. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Tears<strong>

It wasn't often that he cried, but there was that tell-tell sign of tears. He absolutely hated that stinging feeling in the back of his eyes that meant he was on the verge of finally, finally breaking down. But, he'd gotten good at forcing the feeling away. It wasn't hard to do anymore, having done it so many times already. It was second-nature.

Lots of people would say that was a bad thing, but Alec didn't care what those people thought. Forcing away the hurt, the sadness, kept him and his mind in one piece. If he broke down every time life got a little rough, he'd never stop crying.

Losing Max was no different.

Okay, maybe it was a little bit different, because Max was his little brother, but that didn't give Alec the luxury of breaking down and sobbing like there was no tomorrow, even if the sobs were silent. It didn't matter to him that Isabelle was probably doing just that. She had that privilege.

She was not an adult. She was not the oldest. She didn't have to be responsible and strong and a pillar for others. Alec did. He had to protect them; he had to keep them safe…

The feeling crept back up as he thought about how massive a failure he was, and this time he couldn't push it away fast enough.

Everything he had kept held inside for the last week broke through the floodgates, and he sank down to his knees in the middle of the sidewalk he'd been walking down. It didn't matter if he did. The Mundies wouldn't notice him there with all of his glamours in place.

Alec wasn't sure how long he just sat there, letting tear after tear roll down his cheeks. He wasn't aware of much of anything but the hurt until a hand came to rest on his shoulder and a new pair of knees joined his on the concrete.

With blurry, blue eyes he looked up at his companion.

"Come on," Magnus said gently. "Let's get you inside somewhere."

All Alec could do was nod numbly and let Magnus help him up. As he stood, he vaguely registered that his knees hurt, but he paid it no mind as the two slowly made their way to Magnus's apartment. They were close enough that it only took a couple of minutes to reach. Alec hadn't even realized that was the place he had been subconsciously heading towards.

Magnus opened the door and helped Alec over to the couch. By then, Alec's tears had dried up, but he didn't look any better than he had on the street. He just stared at Magnus almost blankly as the warlock unlaced Alec's boots and tugged them off.

When Magnus pushed Alec's jeans up to his knees, the Shadowhunter hissed quietly. Both knees were scraped up from their brutal meeting with the sidewalk and needed tending to.

Once all of that was handled, Magnus finally took Alec into his arms and just held him, not breaking the silence. He knew Alec would speak when he was ready to.

They stayed that way for some time, and slowly, Alec pulled himself back together, largely thanks to the warm body close to his own. It had been nearly an hour before he shifted to bury his face in Magnus's shirt, finally returning the embrace.

"Thank you," he whispered, voice only cracking a little as the sting in his eyes returned yet again.

Magnus ran a hand through Alec's dark hair. "You have nothing to thank me for, Alexander," he said. "I do this because I care about you."

Only able to nod, Alec let a few more tears fall silently, eyes closed tightly as he laid against Magnus's chest.

He had failed Max. He had failed Isabelle. He had even failed Jace and his parents. But, there in Magnus's arms, Alec felt like he could be okay again. There would always be a hole in his heart for his lost baby brother, but Alec had a chance to redeem himself, even if it only mattered to himself. He just hoped that he didn't fail again. He would never forgive himself.

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><p><strong>How about them feels? Also, thank Kat because she is amazing and without her, half of that up there would have been weird, because I can't type worth a crap when I write.<strong>


	19. Lonely

**It was only three-ish days this time! What? **

**I don't know, guys. I was feeling all angsty tonight, and then I got page 511 feels, and then this monster happened. I apologize ahead of time for any pain, suffering, tears, or general sad feels this may cause.**

**It's been like four months, but if you still haven't read CoLS and somehow, magically still haven't been spoiled, just wait for the next one, okay?**

**Shout out to my awesome beta, Kat, for making sure this made sense, no matter how tired she may have been when I asked her to edit.**

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><p>For the city that never sleeps, Magnus couldn't help but feel that New York couldn't be more dead. Maybe it was just because nothing even remotely sparked his interest right now. He'd seen it all and done it all. Eight hundred years was a very long time.<p>

His eyes wandered from building to building as he let his feet decide where he was going. They seemed to have no destination in mind as he continued to wander through the streets for hours. Night had long since fallen, but the city was as bright as ever, illuminated by the light of buildings and street lamps. Not that it mattered. Magnus could see just fine no matter the lighting in the area.

Other people were still out and about, so no one paused to wonder about the boy walking around with his hands in his pockets and a solemn expression on his face. Although, Magnus was anything but a boy. He never really had been in the first place, born magical and forced to grow into adulthood before he could even really enjoy being a child.

He chuckled softly under his breath at the thought. What a waste.

Now, the bad in his life didn't normally bother him, but Magnus was feeling particularly bitter about it that night. He just wanted things to go right for once. Didn't he deserve that after putting up with hurt after hurt? Or was that really too much for him to ask for?

What had he done to upset some stupid higher power so much that they had to pull the rug from under his feet every time he finally had them firmly planted?

Magnus shook his head, as if to rid himself of the thought, before continuing on his way, wondering when he'd even stopped walking in the first place.

The night was drawing closer to morning before his legs finally started to complain at the strain he was putting on them from walking non-stop for several hours. However, he didn't stop until it was nearly sunrise. He had walked through the city for the entire night.

Thoroughly exhausted, Magnus trekked in the direction of his home, hoping he was tired enough to pass out as soon as he'd landed on his bed. He didn't want to think anymore, having spent the night doing nothing else. Dragging his feet the whole way, Magnus made it up the stairs and unlocked his door. There was a brief moment when he considered couch versus bed before heading towards his bedroom. Inside the room, he forced himself to care enough to strip down. The fatigue in his limbs had finally hit him full force, but sleeping in denim was never comfortable, and he liked his blood flowing properly.

It was just a slight bit chilly in the room, so Magnus wiggled his way into a pair of warm pajama bottoms. By then, the sun was already peeking out over the horizon, so the warlock headed to his window with the intention to draw the curtains shut and block it out while he slept. However, as he stood in front of the glass, hand firmly grabbing each curtain, he paused.

Slowly, the bitter, dark thoughts left his mind as he sleepily considered the rising sun. It was the start of a new day, both literally and figuratively. The day before hadn't been the best, but now there was a chance to start again. The situation wasn't ideal, but Magnus was more than used to starting his life over. He'd done so plenty of times before.

Finally pulling the curtains closed, Magnus allowed himself to admit the truth he'd been running from. It wasn't the hurt that really bothered him as much as he was telling himself it was.

When it all came down to it, he was lonely.

* * *

><p>Across the city at the Institute, a pair of sleepy, blue eyes stared out at the rising sun as well.<p>

After trying for three hours, Alec had finally given up on falling asleep and had retreated to the roof, where he was currently sitting on the ground, leaned against the small structure that held the door to the stairwell. He was tired, incredibly so, but his mind just wouldn't stop running around in circles. He thought about every little thing that he'd done wrong, every little thing that he could have done differently or better.

Tears pricked in Alec's eyes for a moment, and he hated that he didn't have a place to run to where he could cry freely anymore. The anger he'd felt hours before had long since given way to sadness. At some point, he'd finally realized he was really the only person to blame. While Camille had definitely played a role in everything, it was Alec that had trusted her. He was the one that had given her the opportunity to ruin them, even after he'd been warned.

Disgust flared up inside of him, and the cell phone he'd been turning around and around in his hands flew a short distance in front of him. His eyes narrowed in the direction of the object, as though its very existence was offensive to him somehow, but it wasn't the phone.

It was him.

He dug his palms into his eyes, clenching his fingers in his hair. This was stupid. He was stupid.

He was stupid, and he didn't know if there would ever be a way for him to fix what his own stupidity had caused.

It took a few moments, but Alec finally looked back up, eyes completely clear of any trace of his desire to cry. He pushed himself to his feet and turned to the door to go back inside. People would be waking up soon, and he didn't want them to discover his empty room.

As he walked back inside in silence, Alec noticed the sound of his footsteps and thought about how _lonely_ they sounded on their own.

Reaching the bottom step, the eldest Lightwood child put on a brave face and reentered the Institute.

* * *

><p><strong>All about those feels.<strong>

**I feel like I write Magnus than I do Alec, even though I'm more of an Alec-type person. What do you guys think?**


End file.
